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THE HEROES 



THE HEROES 

Or, GREEK FAIR V TALES 
FOR MY CHILDREN 


By CHARLES KINGSLEY 



WITH SIXTY DRAWINGS 
By M. H. SQUIRE W E. MARS 


NEW YORK: R. H. RUSSELL, PUBLISHER 
NINETEEN HUNDRED AND ONE 



Copyright, IQOI 

By Robert Howard Russell 



THE UBRARY OF 
CONGRESS. 

Two Cop»ee ftecerveo 

OCT. 25 '90> 

COPVWO*^ twrwv 

pvt i -I ‘tot 

CLASS £l-XXa No. 

/ tin 

COPY A. 



UNIVERSITY PRESS . JOHN WILSON 
AND SON • CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 


CONTENTS 


THE FIRST STORY.— PERSEUS 

Part Page 

I. How Perseus and his Mother came to Seriphos . . . i 

II. How, Perseus vowed a Rash Vow ...... 7 

III. How Perseus slew the Gorgon ...... 20 

IV. How Perseus came to the ^Ethiops . . . . . 31 

V. How Perseus came Home again ...... 45 

THE SECOND STORY. — THE ARGONAUTS 

I. How the Centaur trained the Heroes on Pelion 53 

II. How Jason lost his Sandal in Anauros 63 

III. How THEY BUILT THE SHIP “ ARGO ” IN IoLCOS .... 74 

IV. How the Argonauts sailed to Colchis ..... 79 

V. How the Argonauts were driven into the Unknown Sea . 106 

VI. What was the End of the Heroes ? . . . . *134 

THE THIRD STORY. — THESEUS 

I. How Theseus lifted the Stone ...... 141 

II. How Theseus slew the Devourers of Men .... 146 

III. How Theseus slew the Minotaur . . . . • .176 

IV. How Theseus fell by his Pride . . . . . 1 8 3 



Cltr Jfust “torii 


PERSEUS 



0 



ffiiv&t *>totg— fperSettg 


THE HEROES 


PART ONE 


How Perseus and his Mother came to Seriphos 


O NCE upon a time there were two princes who were 
twins. Their names were Acrisius and Proetus, and 
they lived in the pleasant vale of Argos, far away in 
Hellas. They had fruitful meadows and vineyards, 
sheep and oxen, great herds of horses feeding down in Lerna Fen, 
and all that men could need to make them blest ; and yet they 
were wretched, because they were jealous of each other. From 
the moment they were born they began to quarrel ; and when 
they grew up each tried to take away the other’s share of the 
kingdom, and keep all for himself. So first Acrisius drove out 
Proetus ; and he went across the seas, and brought home a for- 


i 


THE HEROES 


I 


eign princess for his wife, and foreign warriors to help him, who 
were called Cyclopes ; and drove out Acrisius in his turn ; and 
then they fought a long while up and down the land, till the 
quarrel was settled, and Acrisius took Argos and one half the 
land, and Proetus took Tiryns and the other half. And Prcetus 
and his Cyclopes built around Tiryns great walls of unhewn 
stone, which are standing to this day. 

But there came a prophet to that hard-hearted Acrisius and 
prophesied against him, and said : “ Because you have risen up 
against your own blood, your own blood shall rise up against 
you; because you have sinned against your kindred, by your 
kindred you shall be punished. Your daughter Danae shall 
bear a son, and by that son’s hands you shall die. So the Gods 
have ordained, and it will surely come to pass.” 

And at that Acrisius was very much afraid ; but he did §ot 
mend his ways. He had been cruel to his own family, and, in- 
stead of repenting and being kind to them, he went on to be 
more cruel than ever: for he shut up his fair daughter Danae in 
a cavern underground, lined with brass, that no one might come 
near her. So he fancied himself more cunning than the Gods : 
but you will see presently whether he was able to escape them. 

Now it came to pass that in time Danae bore a son ; so beau- 
tiful a babe that any but King Acrisius would have had pity on it. 
But he had no pity ; for he took Danae and her babe down to 
the sea-shore, and put them into a great chest and thrust them 
out to sea, for the winds and the waves to carry them whither- 
soever they would. 


2 



So he stepped forward and saw them dancing . 


































































































































































































' 























* 

Z " 































PERSEUS 


The north-west wind blew freshly out of the blue mountains, 
and down the pleasant vale of Argos, and away and out to sea. 
And away and out to sea before it floated the mother and her 
babe, while all who watched them wept, save that cruel father, 
King Acrisius. 

So they floated on and on, and the chest danced up and down 
upon the billows, and the baby slept upon its mother’s breast : 
but the poor mother could not sleep, but watched and wept, 
and she sang to her baby as they floated ; and the song which she 
sang you shall learn yourselves some day. 

And now they are past the last blue headland, and in the open 
sea ; and there is nothing round them but the waves, and the sky, 
and the wind. But the waves are gentle, and the sky is clear, and 
the breeze is tender and low ; for these are the days when Hal- 
c£one and Ceyx build their nests, and no storms ever ruffle the 
pleasant summer sea. 

And who were Halcyone and Ceyx ? You shall hear while the 
chest floats on. Halcyone was a fairy maiden, the daughter of 
the beach and of the wind. And she loved a sailor-boy, and 
married him ; and none on earth were so happy as they. But at 
last Ceyx was wrecked ; and before he could swim to the shore 
the billows swallowed him up. And Halcyone saw him drown- 
ing, and leapt into the sea to him ; but in vain. Then the Im- 
mortals took pity on them both, and changed them into two 
fair sea-birds ; and now they build a floating nest every year, 
and sail up and down happily for ever upon the pleasant seas 
of Greece. 


3 


THE HEROES 


So a night passed, and a day, and a long day it was for 
Danae; and another night and day beside, till Danae was faint 
with hunger and weeping, and yet no land appeared. And 
all the while the babe slept quietly ; and at last poor Danae 
drooped her head and fell asleep likewise with her cheek against 
the babe’s. 

After a while she was awakened suddenly ; for the chest was 
jarring and grinding, and the air was full of sound. She looked 
up, and over her head were mighty cliffs, all red in the setting 
sun, and around her rocks and breakers, and flying flakes of 
foam. She clasped her hands together, and shrieked aloud 
for help. And when she cried, help met her: for now there 
came over the rocks a tall and stately man, and looked down 
wondering upon poor Danae tossing about in the chest among 
the waves. 

He wore a rough cloak of frieze, and on his head a broad 
hat to shade his face ; in his hand he carried a trident for spearing 
fish, and over his shoulder was a casting-net ; but Danae could 
see that he was no common man by his stature, and his walk, and 
his flowing golden hair and beard ; and by the two servants who 
came behind him, carrying baskets for his fish. But she had 
hardly time to look at him, before he had laid aside his trident 
and leapt down the rocks, and thrown his casting-net so surely 
over Danae and the chest, that he drew it, and her, and the 
baby, safe upon a ledge of rock. 

Then the fisherman took Danae by the hand, and lifted her 
out of the chest, and said, — 


4 



When she cried, help 


met her. 























*•» 


















































































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* • - • . • 






































PERSEUS 


“O beautiful damsel, what strange chance has brought you to 
this island in so frail a ship ? Who are you, and whence ? Surely 
you are some king’s daughter ; and this boy has somewhat more 
than mortal.” 

And as he spoke he pointed to the babe ; for its face shone like 
the morning star. 

But Danae only held down her head, and sobbed out, — 

“Tell me to what land I have come, unhappy that I am; and 
among what men I have fallen ! ” 

And he said : “This isle is called Seriphos, and I am a Hellen, 
and dwell in it. I am the brother of Polydectes the king ; and 
men call me Dictys the netter, because I catch the fish of the 
shore.” 

Then Danae fell down at his feet, and embraced his knees and 
cried, — 

“ Oh, sir, have pity upon a stranger, whom a cruel doom has 
driven to your land ; and let me live in your house as a servant ; 
but treat me honourably, for I was once a king’s daughter, and 
this my boy (as you have truly said) is of no common race. I 
will not be a charge to you, or eat the bread of idleness ; for 
I am more skilful in weaving and embroidery than all the maid- 
ens of my land.” 

And she was going on ; but Dictys stopped her, and raised her 
up, and said, — 

“ My daughter, I am old, and my hairs are growing grey ; while 
I have no children to make my home cheerful. Come with me 
then, and you shall be a daughter to me and to my wife, and this 

5 


THE HEROES 


babe shall be our grandchild. For I fear the Gods, and show 
hospitality to all strangers ; knowing that good deeds, like evil 
ones, always return to those who do them.” 

So Danae was comforted, and went home with Dictys the good 
fisherman, and was a daughter to him and to his wife, till fifteen 
years were past. 


6 



PART TWO 


How Perseus vowed a Rash Vow 


F IFTEEN years were past and gone, and the babe was now 
grown to be a tall lad and a sailor, and went many voyages 
after merchandise to the islands round. His mother called him 
Perseus ; but all the people in Seriphos said that he was not the 
son of mortal man, and called him the son of Zeus, the king of 
the Immortals. For though he was but fifteen, he was taller by 
a head than any man in the island ; and he was the most skilful 
of all in running and wrestling and boxing, and in throwing the 
quoit and the javelin, and in rowing with the oar, and in playing 
on the harp, and in all which befits a man. And he was brave 
and truthful, gentle and courteous, for good old Dictys had 
trained him well ; and well it was for Perseus that he had done so. 
For now Danae and her son fell into great danger, and Perseus 
had need of all his wit to defend his mother and himself. 

I said that Dictys’ brother was Polydectes, king of the island. 
He was not a righteous man, like Dictys ; but greedy, and cun- 


THE HEROES 


ning, and cruel. And when he saw fair Danae, he wanted to 
marry her. But she would not; for she did not love him, and 
cared for no one but her boy, and her boy’s father, whom she 
never hoped to see again. At last Polydectes became furious; 
and while Perseus was away at sea he took poor Danae away 
from Dictys, saying, “ If you will not be my wife, you shall 
be my slave.” So Danae was made a slave, and had to fetch 
water from the well, and grind in the mill, and perhaps was 
beaten, and wore a heavy chain, because she would not marry 
that cruel king. But Perseus was far away, over the seas in the 
isle of Samos, little thinking how his mother was languishing 
in grief. 

Now one day at Samos, while the ship was lading, Perseus 
wandered into a pleasant wood to get out of the sun, and sat 
down on the turf and fell asleep. And as he slept a strange 
dream came to him — the strangest dream which he had ever 
had in his life. 

There came a lady to him through the wood, taller than he, 
or any mortal man; but beautiful exceedingly, with great grey 
eyes, clear and piercing, but strangely soft and mild. On her 
head was a helmet, and in her hand a spear. And over her 
shoulder, above her long blue robes, hung a goat-skin, which 
bore up a mighty shield of brass, polished like a mirror. She 
stood and looked at him with her clear grey eyes ; and Perseus 
saw that her eyelids never moved, nor her eyeballs, but looked 
straight through and through him, and into his very heart, as if 
she could see all the secrets of his soul, and knew all that he had 

8 


PERSEUS 


ever thought or longed for since the day that he was born. And 
Perseus dropped his eyes, trembling and blushing, as the wonder- 
ful lady spoke. 

“ Perseus, you must do an 
errand for me.” 

“ Who are you, lady ? 

And how do you know my 
name ? ” 

“ I am Pallas Athene; and 
I know the thoughts of all 
men’s hearts, and discern 
their manhood or their base- 
ness. And from the souls of 
clay I turn away, and they 
are blest, but not by me. 

They fatten at ease, like 
sheep in the pasture, and eat 
what they did not sow, like 
oxen in the stall. They 
grow and spread, like the 
gourd along the ground ; 
but, like the gourd, they give 
no shade to the traveller, and when they are ripe death gathers 
them, and they go down unloved into hell, and their name van- 
ishes out of the land. 

“ But to the souls of fire I give more fire, and to those who are 
manful I give a might more than man’s. These are the heroes, 



9 



THE HEROES 


the sons of the Immortals, who are blest, but not like the souls 
of clay. For I drive them forth by strange paths, Perseus, that 
they may fight the Titans and the monsters, the enemies of Gods 
and men. Through doubt and need, danger and battle, I drive 
them ; and some of them are slain in the flower of youth, no man 
knows when or where ; and some of them win noble names, and 
a fair and green old age ; but what will be their latter end I know 
not, and none, save Zeus, the father of Gods and men. Tell me 
now, Perseus, which of these two sorts of men seem to you 
more blest ? ” 

Then Perseus answered boldly : “ Better to die in the flower 
of youth, on the chance of winning a noble name, than to live at 
ease like the sheep, and die unloved and unrenowned.” 

Then that strange lady laughed, and held up her brazen shield, 
and cried : “ See here, Perseus ; dare you face such a monster as 
this, and slay it, that I may place its head upon this shield?” 

And in the mirror of the shield there appeared a face, and as 
Perseus looked on it his blood ran cold. It was the face of a 
beautiful woman ; but her cheeks were pale as death, and her 
brows were knit with everlasting pain, and her lips were thin 
and bitter like a snake’s ; and instead of hair, vipers wreathed 
about her temples, and shot out their forked tongues ; while 
round her head were folded wings like an eagle’s, and upon her 
bosom claws of brass. 

And Perseus looked awhile, and then said : “ If there is any- 
thing so fierce and foul on earth, it were a noble deed to kill it. 
Where can I find the monster ? ” 

io 


PERSEUS 


Then the strange lady smiled again, and said : “ Not yet ; you 
are too young, and too unskilled ; for this is Medusa the Gorgon, 
the mother of a monstrous brood. Return to your home, and 
do the work which waits there for you. You must play the 
man in that before I can think you worthy to go in search 
of the Gorgon.” 

Then Perseus would have spoken, but the strange lady van- 
ished, and he awoke; and behold, it was a dream. But day and 
night Perseus saw before him the face 
of that dreadful woman, with the 
vipers writhing round her head. 

So he returned home ; and when 
he came to Seriphos, the first 
thing which he heard was that his 
mother was a slave in the house of 
Polydectes. 

Grinding his teeth with rage, he 
went out, and away to the king’s 
palace, and through the men’s rooms, 
and the women’s rooms, and so through all the house (for no 
one dared stop him, so terrible and fair was he) till he found 
his mother sitting on the floor, turning the stone hand-mill, and 
weeping as she turned it. And he lifted her up, and kissed her, 
and bade her follow him forth. But before they could pass out 
of the room Polydectes came in, raging. And when Perseus 
saw him, he flew upon him as the mastiff flies on the boar. 
“ Villain and tyrant ! ” he cried ; “ is this your respect for the 



1 1 


THE HEROES 


Gods, and your mercy to strangers and widows? You shall 
die!” And because he had no sword he caught up the stone 
hand-mill, and lifted it to dash out Polydectes’ brains. 



But his mother clung to him, shrieking, “ Oh, my son, we are 
strangers and helpless in the land ; and if you kill the king, all 
the people will fall on us, and we shall both die.” 


12 



PERSEUS 


Good Dictys, too, who had come in, entreated him : “ Re- 
member that he is my brother. Remember how I have brought 
you up, and trained you as my own son, and spare him 
for my sake.” 

Then Perseus lowered his hand ; and Polydectes, who had 
been trembling all this while like a coward, because he knew 
that he was in the wrong, let Perseus and his mother pass. 

Perseus took his mother to the temple of Athene, and there 
the priestess made her one of the temple-sweepers ; for there 
they knew she would be safe, and not even Polydectes would 
dare to drag her away from the altar. And there Perseus, 
and the good Dictys, and his wife came to visit her every day ; 
while Polydectes, not being able to get what he wanted by 
force, cast about in his wicked heart how he might get it by 
cunning. 

Now he was sure that he could never get back Danae as long 
as Perseus was in the island ; so he made a plot to rid himself of 
him. And first he pretended to have forgiven Perseus, and to 
have forgotten Danae ; so that, for a while, all went as smoothly 
as ever. 

Next he proclaimed a great feast, and invited to it all the chiefs, 
and landowners, and the young men of the island, and among 
them Perseus, that they might all do him homage as their king, 
and eat of his banquet in his hall. 

On the appointed day they all came ; and as the custom was 
then, each guest brought his present with him to the king : one 
a horse, another a shawl, or a ring, or a sword ; and those who 


13 


THE HEROES 


had nothing better brought a basket of grapes, or of game ; but 
Perseus brought nothing, for he had nothing to bring, being but a 
poor sailor-lad. 

He was ashamed, however, to go into the king’s presence 
without his gift ; and he was too proud to ask Dictys to lend 
him one. So he stood at the door sorrowfully, watching the 
rich men go in; and his face grew very red as they pointed 
at him, and smiled, and whispered, “ What has that foundling 
to give ? ” 

Now this was what Polydectes wanted; and as soon as he 
heard that Perseus stood without, he bade them bring him in, 
and asked him scornfully before them all : “ Am I not your 
king, Perseus, and have I not invited you to my feast ? Where 
is your present, then ? ” 

Perseus blushed and stammered, while all the proud men round 
laughed, and some of them began jeering him openly : “ This 
fellow was thrown ashore here like a piece of weed or drift- 
wood, and yet he is too proud to bring a gift to the king.” 

“ And though he does not know who his father is, he is vain 
enough to let the old women call him the son of Zeus.” 

And so forth, till poor Perseus grew mad with shame, and 
hardly knowing what he said, cried out : “ A present ! who are 
you who talk of presents ? See if I do not bring a nobler one 
than all of yours together ! ” 

So he said boasting ; and yet he felt in his heart that he was 
braver than all those scoffers, and more able to do some glorious 
deed. 





See if I do not bring a nobler present than all of yours together! 











































- 



























































\ . 










tk‘ 







































* 













































































PERSEUS 


“ Hear him ! Hear the boaster ! What is it to be ? ” cried 
they all, laughing louder than ever. 

Then his dream at Samos came into his mind, and he cried 
aloud, “ The head of the Gorgon.” 

He was half afraid after he had said the words; for all 
laughed louder than ever, and Polydectes loudest of all. 

“ You have promised to bring me the Gorgon’s head? Then 
never appear again in this island without it. Go ! ” 

Perseus ground his teeth with rage, for he saw that he had 
fallen into a trap ; but his promise lay upon him, and he went 
out without a word. 

Down to the cliffs he went, and looked across the broad blue 
sea ; and he wondered if his dream were true, and prayed in the 
bitterness of his soul, — 

“ Pallas Athene, was my dream true ? and shall I slay the Gor- 
gon ? If thou didst really show me her face, let me not come to 
shame as a liar and boastful. Rashly and angrily I promised ; 
but cunningly and patiently will I perform.” 

But there was no answer, nor sign ; neither thunder nor any 
appearance ; not even a cloud in the sky. 

And three times Perseus called weeping, “ Rashly and angrily 
I promised ; but cunningly and patiently will I perform.” 

Then he saw afar off above the sea a small white cloud, as 
bright as silver. And it came on, nearer and nearer, till its 
brightness dazzled his eyes. 

Perseus wondered at that strange cloud, for there was no other 
cloud all round the sky ; and he trembled as it touched the cliff 

*5 


THE HEROES 


below. And as it touched, it broke, and parted, and within it 
appeared Pallas Athene, as he had seen her at Samos in his 
dream, and beside her a young man more light-limbed than the 
stag, whose eyes were like sparks of fire. By his side was a scim- 
itar of diamond, all of one clear precious stone, and on his feet 
were golden sandals, from the heels of which grew living wings. 

They looked upon Perseus keenly, and yet they never moved 
their eyes ; and they came up the cliffs towards him more swiftly 
than the seagull, and yet they never moved their feet, nor did 
the breeze stir the robes about their limbs ; only the wings of 
the youth’s sandals quivered, like a hawk’s when he hangs 
above the cliff. And Perseus fell down and worshipped, for he 
knew that they were more than man. 

But Athene stood before him and spoke gently, and bid him 
have no fear. Then — 

“ Perseus,” she said, “ he who overcomes in one trial merits 
thereby a sharper trial still. You have braved Polydectes, and 
done manfully. Dare you brave Medusa the Gorgon ? ” 

And Perseus said: “Try me; for since you spoke to me in 
Samos a new soul has come into my breast, and I should be 
ashamed not to dare anything which I can do. Show me, then, 
how I can do this!” 

“Perseus,” said Athene, “think well before you attempt; for 
this deed requires a seven years’ journey, in which you cannot 
repent or turn back nor escape; but if your heart fails you, you 
must die in the Unshapen Land, where no man will ever find 
your bones.” 


1 6 



As he spoke Phineus and all his men-at-arms stopped short. 
























PERSEUS 


“ Better so than live here, useless and despised/’ said Perseus. 
“ Tell me, then, oh, tell me, fair and wise Goddess, of your great 
kindness and condescension, how I can do but this one thing, and 
then, if need be, die ! ” 

Then Athene smiled and said, — 

“ Be patient, and listen ; for if you forget my words, you will 
indeed die. You must go northward to the country of the 
Hyperboreans, who live beyond the pole, at the sources of the 
cold north wind, till you find the three Grey Sisters, who have 
but one eye and one tooth between them. You must ask them 
the way to the Nymphs, the daughters of the Evening Star, who 
dance about the golden tree, in the Atlantic island of the west. 
They will tell you the way to the Gorgon, that you may 
slay her, my enemy, the mother of monstrous beasts. Once 
she was a maiden as beautiful as morn, till in her pride she 
sinned a sin at which the sun hid his face ; and from that day 
her hair was turned to vipers, and her hands to eagle’s claws; 
and her heart was filled with shame and rage, and her lips 
with bitter venom; and her eyes became so terrible that who- 
soever looks on them is turned to stone; and her children are 
the winged horse and the giant of the golden sword ; and her 
grandchildren are Echidna the witch-adder, and Geryon the 
three-headed tyrant, who feeds his herds beside the herds of 
hell. So she became the sister of the Gorgons, Stheino and 
Euryte the abhorred, the daughters of the Queen of the Sea. 
Touch them not, for they are immortal; but bring me only 
Medusa’s head.” 


l 7 


THE HEROES 


“ And I will bring it ! ” said Perseus ; “ but how am I to 
escape her eyes? Will she not freeze me too into stone?” 

“ You shall take this polished shield,” said Athene, “and when 
you come near her look not at her herself, but at her image in 
the brass ; so you may strike her safely. And when you have 
struck off her head, wrap it, with your face turned away, in the 
folds of the goat-skin on which the shield hangs, the hide of 
Amaltheie, the nurse of the iEgis-holder. So you will bring it 
safely back to me, and win to yourself renown, and a place 
among the heroes who feast with the Immortals upon the peak 
where no winds blow.” 

Then Perseus said : “ I will go, though I die in going. But 
how shall I cross the seas without a ship ? And who will show 
me my way ? And when I find her, how shall I slay her, if her 
scales be iron and brass?” 

Then the young man spoke: “These sandals of mine will bear 
you across the seas, and over hill and dale like a bird, as they 
bear me all day long; for I am Hermes, the far-famed Argus- 
slayer, the messenger of the Immortals who dwell on Olympus.” 

Then Perseus fell down and worshipped, while the young man 
spoke again, — 

“ The sandals themselves will guide you on the road, for they 
are divine and cannot stray ; and this sword itself, the Argus- 
slayer, will kill her, for it is divine, and needs no second stroke. 
Arise, and gird them on, and go forth.” 

So Perseus arose, and girded on the sandals and the sword. 

And Athene cried, “Now leap from the cliff and be gone.” 


PERSEUS 


But Perseus lingered. 

“May I not bid farewell to my mother and to Dictys? And 
may I not offer burnt-offerings to you, and to Hermes the far- 
famed Argus-slayer, and to Father Zeus above ?” 

“You shall not bid farewell to your mother, lest your heart 
relent at her weeping. I will comfort her and Dictys until you 
return in peace. Nor shall you offer burnt-offerings to the 
Olympians; for your offering shall be Medusa’s head. Leap, 
and trust in the armour of the Immortals.” 

Then Perseus looked down the cliff and shuddered; but he 
was ashamed to show his dread. Then he thought of Medusa 
and the renown before him, and he leapt into the empty air. 

And behold, instead of falling he floated, and stood, and ran 
along the sky. He looked back, but Athene had vanished, and 
Hermes; and the sandals led him on northward ever, like a crane 
who follows the spring toward the Ister fens. 


1 9 



S O Perseus started on his journey, going dry-shod over land 
and sea; and his heart was high and joyful, for the winged 
sandals bore him each day a seven days’ journey. 

And he went by Cythnus, and by Ceos, and the pleasant 
Cyclades to Attica; and past Athens and Thebes, and the Copaic 
lake, and up the vale of Cephissus, and past the peaks of CEta 
and Pindus, and over the rich Thessalian plains, till the sunny 
hills of Greece were behind him, and before him were the wilds 
of the north. Then he passed the Thracian mountains, and 
many a barbarous tribe, Paeons and Dardans and Triballi, till he 
came to the Ister stream, and the dreary Scythian plains. And 
he walked across the Ister dry-shod, and away through the moors 
and fens, day and night toward the bleak north-west, turning 
neither to the right hand nor the left, till he came to the 
Unshapen Land, and the place which has no name. 


20 


PERSEUS 


And seven days he walked through it, on a path which few 
can tell ; for those who have trodden it like least to speak of it, 
and those who go there again in dreams are glad enough when 
they awake; till he came to the edge of the everlasting night, 
where the air was full of feathers, and the soil was hard with 
ice; and there at last he found the three Grey Sisters, by the 
shore of the freezing sea, nodding upon a white log of drift- 
wood, beneath the cold white winter moon; and they chaunted 
a low song together, “ Why the old times were better than 
the new.” 

There was no living thing around them, not a fly, not a moss 
upon the rocks. Neither seal nor seagull dare come near, lest 
the ice should clutch them in its claws. The surge broke up 
in foam, but it fell again in flakes of snow; and it frosted the 
hair of the three Grey Sisters, and the bones in the ice-cliff 
above their heads. They passed the eye from one to the other, 
but for all that they could not see ; and they passed the tooth 
from one to the other, but for all that they could not eat; and 
they sat in the full glare of the moon, but they were none the 
warmer for her beams. And Perseus pitied the three Grey 
Sisters ; but they did not pity themselves. 

So he said : “ Oh, venerable mothers, wisdom is the daughter 
of old age. You therefore should know many things. Tell me, 
if you can, the path to the Gorgon.” 

Then one cried, “Who is this who reproaches us with old 
age ? ” And another, “ This is the voice of one of the children 
of men.” 


21 


THE HEROES 


And he: “I do not reproach, but honour your old age, 
and I am one of the sons of men and of the heroes. The 
rulers of Olympus have sent me to you to ask the way to the 
Gorgon.” 

Then one, “ There are new rulers in Olympus, and all new 
things are bad.” And another, “We hate your rulers, and the 
heroes, and all the children of men. We are the kindred of the 
Titans, and the Giants, and the Gorgons, and the ancient mon- 
sters of the deep.” And another, “ Who is this rash and inso- 
lent man who pushes unbidden into our world?” And the first, 
“ There never was such a world as ours, nor will be ; if we let 
him see it, he will spoil it all.” 

Then one cried, “Give me the eye, that I may see him;” 
and another, “ Give me the tooth, that I may bite him.” But 
Perseus, when he saw that they were foolish and proud, and did 
not love the children of men, left off pitying them, and said to 
himself, “Hungry men must needs be hasty; if I stay making 
many words here, I shall be starved.” Then he stepped close to 
them, and watched till they passed the eye from hand to hand. 
And as they groped about between themselves, he held out his 
own hand gently, till one of them put the eye into it, fancying 
that it was the hand of her sister. Then he sprang back, and 
laughed, and cried, — 

“Cruel and proud old women, I have your eye; and I will 
throw it into the sea, unless you tell me the path to the Gorgon, 
and swear to me that you tell me right.” 

Then they wept, and chattered, and scolded; but in vain. 


22 



Then they wept , and chattered and scolded; but in vain 







PERSEUS 


They were forced to tell the truth, though, when they told it, 
Perseus could hardly make out the road. 

“You must go,” they said, “foolish boy, to the southward, 
into the ugly glare of the sun, till you come to Atlas the Giant, 
who holds the heaven and the earth apart. And you must ask 
his daughters, the Hesperides, who are young and foolish like 
yourself. And now give us back our eye, for we have forgotten 
all the rest.” 

So Perseus gave them back their eye; but instead of using it, 
they nodded and fell fast asleep, and were turned into blocks of 
ice, till the tide came up and washed them all away. And now 
they float up and down like icebergs for ever, weeping whenever 
they meet the sunshine, and the fruitful summer, and the warm 
south wind, which fill young hearts with joy. 

But Perseus leapt away to the southward, leaving the snow 
and the ice behind : past the isle of the Hyperboreans, and the 
tin isles, and the long Iberian shore, while the sun rose higher 
day by day upon a bright blue summer sea. And the terns and 
the seagulls swept laughing round his head, and called to him to 
stop and play, and the dolphins gambolled up as he passed, and 
offered to carry him on their backs. And all night long the sea- 
nymphs sang sweetly, and the Tritons blew upon their conchs, 
as they played round Galataea, their queen, in her car of pearled 
shells. Day by day the sun rose higher, and leapt more swiftly 
into the sea at night, and more swiftly out of the sea at dawn ; 
while Perseus skimmed over the billows like a seagull, and his 
feet were never wetted; and leapt on from wave to wave, and 

23 


THE HEROES 


his limbs were never weary, till he saw far away a mighty moun- 
tain, all rose-red in the setting sun. Its feet were wrapped in 
forests, and its head in wreaths of cloud ; and Perseus knew that 
it was Atlas, who holds the heavens and the earth apart. 

He came to the mountain, and leapt on shore, and wandered 
upward, among pleasant valleys and waterfalls, and tall trees and 
strange ferns and flowers; but there was no smoke rising from 
any glen, nor house, nor sign of man. 

At last he heard sweet voices singing ; and he guessed that he 
was come to the garden of the Nymphs, the daughters of the 
Evening Star. 

They sang like nightingales among the thickets, and Perseus 
stopped to hear their song ; but the words which they spoke he 
could not understand ; no, nor no man after him for many a 
hundred years. So he stepped forward and saw them dancing, 
hand in hand, around the charmed tree, which bent under its 
golden fruit ; and round the tree-foot was coiled the dragon, 
old Ladon the sleepless snake, who lies there for ever, listening 
to the song of the maidens, blinking and watching with dry 
bright eyes. 

Then Perseus stopped, not because he feared the dragon, 
but because he was bashful before those fair maids; but when 
they saw him, they too stopped, and called to him with 
trembling voices, — 

“Who are you? Are you Heracles the mighty, who will 
come to rob our garden, and carry off our golden fruit ?” And 
he answered, — 


24 


PERSEUS 


“ I am not Heracles the mighty, and I want none of your 
golden fruit. Tell me, fair Nymphs, the way which leads to 
the Gorgon, that I may go on my way and slay her.” 

‘‘Not yet, not yet, fair boy ; come dance with us around the tree 
in the garden which knows no winter, the home of the south 
wind and the sun. Come hither and play with us awhile; we 
have danced along here for a thousand years, and our hearts are 
weary with longing for a playfellow. So come, come, come!” 

“I cannot dance with you, fair maidens; for I must do the 
errand of the Immortals. So tell me the way to the Gorgon, 
lest I wander and perish in the waves.” 

Then they sighed and wept ; and answered, — 

“The Gorgon! she will freeze you into stone.” 

“ It is better to die like a hero than to live like an ox in a 
stall. The Immortals have lent me weapons, and they will give 
me wit to use them.” 

Then they sighed again and answered : “ Fair boy, if you are 
bent on your own ruin, be it so. We know not the way to 
the Gorgon; but we will ask the giant Atlas, above upon the 
mountain peak, the brother of our father, the silver Evening 
Star. He sits aloft and sees across the ocean, and far away into 
the Unshapen Land.” 

So they went up the mountain to Atlas their uncle, and 
Perseus went up with them. And they found the giant kneel- 
ing, as he held the heavens and the earth apart. 

They asked him, and he answered mildly, pointing to the sea- 
board with his mighty hand, “ I can see the Gorgons lying on 

2 5 


THE HEROES 


an island far away, but this youth can never come near them, 
unless he has the hat of darkness, which whosoever wears cannot 

be seen.” 

Then cried Perseus, “ Where 
is that hat, that I may find it ? ” 
But the giant smiled. “No 
living mortal can find that 
hat, for it lies in the depths 
of Hades, in the regions of 
the dead. But my nieces are 
immortal, and they shall fetch 
it for you, if you will promise 
me one thing and keep your 
faith.” 

Then Perseus promised ; and 
the giant said, “When you 
come back with the head of 
Medusa, you shall show me 
the beautiful horror, that I 
may lose my feeling and my 
breathing, and become a stone 
for ever; for it is weary labour for me to hold the heavens 
and the earth apart.” 

Then Perseus promised; and the eldest of the Nymphs went 
down, and into a dark cavern among the cliffs, out of which 
came smoke and thunder, for it was one of the mouths of Hell. 
And Perseus and the Nymphs sat down seven days, and waited 

26 




PERSEUS 


trembling, till the Nymph came up again ; and her face was 
pale, and her eyes dazzled with the light, for she had been long 
in the dreary darkness ; but in her hand was the magic hat. 

Then all the Nymphs kissed Perseus, and wept over him 
a long while ; but he was only impatient to be gone. And at 
last they put the hat upon his head, and he vanished out of 
their sight. 

But Perseus went on boldly, past many an ugly sight, far away 
into the heart of the Unshapen Land, beyond the streams of 
Ocean, to the isles where no ship cruises, where is neither night 
nor day, where nothing is in its right place, and nothing has 
a name ; till he heard the rustle of the Gorgons’ wings and 
saw the glitter of their brazen talons; and then he knew that 
it was time to halt, lest Medusa should freeze him into stone. 

He thought awhile with himself, and remembered Athene’s 
words. He rose aloft into the air, and held the mirror of the 
shield above his head, and looked up into it that he might see 
all that was below him. 

And he saw the three Gorgons sleeping, as huge as elephants. 
He knew that they could not see him, because the hat of dark- 
ness hid him; and yet he trembled as he sank down near them, 
so terrible were those brazen claws. 

Two of the Gorgons were foul as swine, and lay sleeping 
heavily, as swine sleep, with their mighty wings outspread ; but 
Medusa tossed to and fro restlessly, and as she tossed Perseus 
pitied her, she looked so fair and sad. Her plumage was like 
the rainbow, and her face was like the face of a nymph, only 


27 


THE HEROES 


her eyebrows were knit, and her lips clenched, with everlasting 
care and pain; and her long neck gleamed so white in the mir- 
ror that Perseus had not the heart to strike, and said, “Ah, 
that it had been either of her sisters ! ” 

But as he looked, from among her tresses the vipers’ heads 
awoke, and peeped up with their bright dry eyes, and showed 
their fangs, and hissed ; and Medusa, as she tossed, threw back 
her wings and showed her brazen claws ; and Perseus saw that, 
for all her beauty, she was as foul and venomous as the rest. 

Then he came down and stepped to her boldly, and looked 
steadfastly on his mirror, and struck with Herpe stoutly once; 
and he did not need to strike again. 

Then he wrapped the head in the goat-skin, turning away 
his eyes, and sprang into the air aloft, faster than he ever 
sprang before. 

For Medusa’s wings and talons rattled as she sank dead upon 
the rocks; and her two foul sisters woke, and saw her lying dead. 

Into the air they sprang yelling, and looked for him who had 
done the deed. Thrice they swung round and round, like hawks 
who beat for a partridge; and thrice they snuffed round and 
round, like hounds who draw upon a deer. At last they struck 
upon the scent of the blood, and they checked for a moment to 
make sure; and then on they rushed with a fearful howl, while 
the wind rattled hoarse in their wings. 

On they rushed, sweeping and flapping, like eagles after a 
hare; and Perseus’ blood ran cold, for all his courage, as he 
saw them come howling on his track ; and he cried, “ Bear 

28 


PERSEUS 

me well now, brave sandals, for the hounds of Death are at 
my heels ! ” 

And well the brave sandals bore him, aloft through cloud and 
sunshine, across the shoreless sea ; and fast followed the hounds 
of Death, as the roar of their wings came down the wind. But 
the roar came down fainter and fainter, and the howl of their 
voices died away ; for the sandals were too swift, even for 
Gorgons, and by nightfall they were far behind, two black 
specks in the southern sky, till the sun sank and he saw them 
no more. 

Then he came again to Atlas, and the garden of the Nymphs; 
and when the giant heard him coming, he groaned, and said, 
“ Fulfil thy promise to me.” Then Perseus held up to him the 
Gorgon’s head, and he had rest from all his toil ; for he became 
a crag of stone, which sleeps for ever far above the clouds. 

Then he thanked the Nymphs, and asked them, “ By what 
road shall I go homeward again, for I wandered far round in 
coming hither ? ” 

And they wept and cried, “ Go home no more, but stay and 
play with us, the lonely maidens, who dwell for ever far away 
from Gods and men.” 

But he refused, and they told him his road, and said: “ Take 
with you this magic fruit, which, if you eat once, you will not 
hunger for seven days. For you must go eastward and eastward 
ever, over the doleful Lybian shore, which Poseidon gave to 
Father Zeus, when he burst open the Bosphorus and the Helles- 
pont, and drowned the fair Lectonian land. And Zeus took 

2 9 


THE HEROES 


that land in exchange, a fair bargain, much bad ground for a 
little good, and to this day it lies waste and desert, with shingle, 
and rock, and sand.” 

Then they kissed Perseus, and wept over him, and he leapt 
down the mountain, and went on, lessening and lessening like 
a seagull, away and out to sea. 


30 



PART FOUR 

How Perseus came to the JEthiops 

S O Perseus flitted onward to the north-east, over many a 
league of sea, till he came to the rolling sand-hills and the 
dreary Lybian shore. 

And he flitted on across the desert : over rock-ledges, and 
banks of shingle, and level wastes of sand, and shell-drifts bleach- 
ing in the sunshine, and the skeletons of great sea-monsters, and 
dead bones of ancient giants, strewn up and down upon the old 
sea-floor. And as he went the blood-drops fell to the earth from 
the Gorgon’s head, and became poisonous asps and adders, which 
breed in the desert to this day. 

Over the sands he went — he never knew how far or how 
long — feeding on the fruit which the Nymphs had given him, 
till he saw the hills of the Psylli, and the Dwarfs who fought 
with cranes. Their spears were of reeds and rushes, and their 
houses of the egg-shells of the cranes ; and Perseus laughed, and 
went his way to the north-east, hoping all day long to see the 

3i 


THE HEROES 

blue Mediterranean sparkling, that he might fly across it to 
his home. 

But now came down a mighty wind, and swept him back 
southward toward the desert. All day long he strove against 
it ; but even the winged sandals could not prevail. So he was 
forced to float down the wind all night ; and when the morning 
dawned there was nothing to be seen, save the same old hateful 
waste of sand. 

And out of the north the sandstorms rushed upon him, 
blood-red pillars and wreaths, blotting out the noonday sun ; and 
Perseus fled before them, lest he should be choked by the 
burning dust. At last the gale fell calm, and he tried to go 
northward again ; but again came down the sandstorms, and 
swept him back into the waste, and then all was calm and 
cloudless as before. Seven days he strove against the storms, and 
seven days he was driven back, till he was spent with thirst 
and hunger, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth. 
Here and there he fancied that he saw a fair lake, and the 
sunbeams shining on the water ; but when he came to it it 
vanished at his feet, and there was nought but burning sand. 
And if he had not been of the race of the Immortals, he would 
have perished in the waste ; but his life was strong within him, 
because it was more than man’s. 

Then he cried to Athene, and said, — 

“ Oh, fair and pure, if thou hearest me, wilt thou leave me 
here to die of drought ? I have brought thee the Gorgon’s 
head at thy bidding, and hitherto thou hast prospered my 

32 


PERSEUS 


journey ; dost thou desert me at the last ? Else why will not 
these immortal sandals prevail, even against the desert storms ? 
Shall I never see my mother more, and the blue ripple round 
Seriphos, and the sunny hills of Hellas ?” 

So he prayed ; and after he had prayed there was a great 
silence. 

The heaven was still above his head, and the sand was still 
beneath his feet; and Perseus looked up, but there was nothing 
but the blinding sun in the blinding blue ; and round him, but 
there was nothing but the blinding sand. 

And Perseus stood still awhile, and waited, and said : “ Surely 
I am not here without the will of the Immortals, for Athene 
will not lie. Were not these sandals to lead me in the right 
road ? Then the road in which I have tried to go must be a 
wrong road.” ) 

Then suddenly his ears were opened, and he heard the sound 
of running water. 

And at that his heart was lifted up, though he scarcely dare 
believe his ears ; and weary as he was, he hurried forward, 
though he could scarcely stand upright ; and within a bowshot 
of him was a glen in the sand, and marble rocks, and date- 
trees, and a lawn of gay green grass. And through the lawn 
a streamlet sparkled and wandered out beyond the trees, and 
vanished in the sand. 

The water trickled among the rocks, and a pleasant breeze 
rustled in the dry date-branches; and Perseus laughed for joy, 
and leapt down the cliff, and drank of the cool water, and ate 

33 


3 


THE HEROES 


of the dates, and slept upon the turf, and leapt up and went 
forward again : but not toward the north this time ; for he 
said : “ Surely Athene hath sent me hither, and will not have 
me go homeward yet. What if there be another noble deed 
to be done, before I see the sunny hills of Hellas ? ” 



So he went east and east for ever, by fresh oases and fountains, 
date-palms, and lawns of grass, till he saw before him a mighty 
mountain-wall, all rose-red in the setting sun. 

Then he towered in the air like an eagle, for his limbs were 
strong again; and he flew all night across the mountain till the 
day began to dawn, and rosy-fingered Eos came blushing up the 
sky. And then, behold, beneath him was the long green garden 
of Egypt and the shining stream of Nile. 

34 



PERSEUS 


And he saw cities walled up to heaven, and temples, and 
obelisks, and pyramids, and giant Gods of stone. And he came 
down amid fields of barley, and flax, and millet, and clambering 
gourds ; and saw the people coming out of the gates of a great 
city, and setting to work, each in his place, among the water- 
courses, parting the streams among the plants cunningly with 
their feet, according to the wisdom of the Egyptians. But 
when they saw him they all stopped their work, and gathered 
round him, and cried, — 

“ Who art thou, fair youth ? and what bearest thou beneath 
thy goat-skin there ? Surely thou art one of the Immortals ; 
for thy skin is white like ivory, and ours is red like clay. Thy 
hair is like threads of gold, and ours is black and curled. Surely 
thou art one of the Immortals ; ” and they would have wor- 
shipped him then and there ; but Perseus said, — 

“ I am not one of the Immortals ; but I am a hero of the 
Hellens. And I have slain the Gorgon in the wilderness, and 
bear her head with me. Give me food, therefore, that I may 
go forward and finish my work.” 

Then they gave him food, and fruit, and wine; but they 
would not let him go. And when the news came into the 
city that the Gorgon was slain, the priests came out to meet 
him, and the maidens, with songs and dances, and timbrels and 
harps ; and they would have brought him to their temple and to 
their king ; but Perseus put on the hat of darkness, and vanished 
away out of their sight. 

Therefore the Egyptians looked long for his return, but in 

35 


THE HEROES 


vain, and worshipped him as a hero, and made a statue of him 
in Chemmis, which stood for many a hundred years; and they 
said that he appeared to them at times, with sandals a cubit long ; 
and that whenever he appeared the season was fruitful, and the 
Nile rose high that year. 

Then Perseus went to the eastward, along the Red Sea 
shore ; and then, because he was afraid to go into the Arabian 
deserts, he turned northward once more, and this time no storm 
hindered him. 

He went past the Isthmus, and Mount Casius, and the 
vast Serbonian bog, and up the shore of Palestine, where the 
dark-faced Aithiops dwelt. 

He flew on past pleasant hills and valleys, like Argos itself, or 
Lacedaemon, or the fair Vale of Tempe. But the lowlands were 
all drowned by floods, and the highlands blasted by fire, and the 
hills heaved like a bubbling cauldron, before the wrath of King 
Poseidon, the shaker of the earth. 

And Perseus feared to go inland, but flew along the shore 
above the sea ; and he went on all the day, and the sky was 
black with smoke; and he went on all the night, and the sky 
was red with flame. 

And at the dawn of day he looked toward the cliffs ; and 
at the water’s edge, under a black rock, he saw a white image 
stand. 

“ This,” thought he, “ must surely be the statue of some sea- 
God; I will go near and see what kind of Gods these barbarians 
worship.” 


36 


PERSEUS 


So he came near ; but when he came, it was no statue, but 
a maiden of flesh and blood ; for he could see her tresses stream- 
ing in the breeze ; and as he came closer still, he could see how 
she shrank and shivered when the waves sprinkled her with cold 
salt spray. Her arms were spread above her head, and fastened 
to the rock with chains of brass ; and her head drooped on her 
bosom, either with sleep, or weariness, or grief. But now and 
then she looked up and wailed, and called her mother; yet she 
did not see Perseus, for the cap of darkness was on his head. 

Full of pity and indignation, Perseus drew near and looked 
upon the maid. Her cheeks were darker than his were, and her 
hair was blue-black like a hyacinth ; but Perseus thought : “ I 
have never seen so beautiful a maiden ; no, not in all our isles. 
Surely she is a king’s daughter. Do barbarians treat their king’s 
daughters thus? She is too fair, at least, to have done any wrong. 
I will speak to her.” 

And, lifting the hat from his head, he flashed into her sight. 
She shrieked with terror, and tried to hide her face with her 
hair, for she could not with her hands ; but Perseus cried, — 

“ Do not fear me, fair one ; I am a Hellen, and no barbarian. 
What cruel men have bound you? But first I will set you free.” 

And he tore at the fetters, but they were too strong for him; 
while the maiden cried, — 

“ Touch me not; I am accursed, devoted as a victim to the 
sea-Gods. They will slay you, if you dare to set me free.” 

“ Let them try,” said Perseus; and drawing Herpe from his 
thigh, he cut through the brass as if it had been flax. 

37 


THE HEROES 


“Now,” he said, “you belong to me, and not to these sea- 
Gods, whosoever they may be ! ” But she only called the more 
on her mother. 

“Why call on your mother? She can be no mother to have 
left you here. If a bird is dropped out of the nest, it belongs to 
the man who picks it up. If a jewel is cast by the wayside, it 
is his who dare win it and wear it, as I will win you and will 
wear you. I know now why Pallas Athene sent me hither. She 
sent me to gain a prize worth all my toil and more.” 

And he clasped her in his arms, and cried : “ Where are 
these sea-Gods, cruel and unjust, who doom fair maids to death? 
I carry the weapons of Immortals. Let them measure their 
strength against mine ! But tell me, maiden, who you are, and 
what dark fate brought you here.” 

And she answered, weeping, — 

“ I am the daughter of Cepheus, King of Iopa, and my 
mother is Cassiopceia of the beautiful tresses, and they called 
me Andromeda, as long as life was mine. And I stand bound 
here, hapless that I am, for the sea-monster’s food, to atone for 
my mother’s sin. For she boasted of me once that I was fairer 
than Atergatis, Queen of the Fishes; so she in her wrath sent 
the sea-floods, and her brother the Fire King sent the earth- 
quakes, and wasted all the land, and after the floods a monster 
bred of the slime, who devours all living things. And now he 
must devour me, guiltless though I am — me who never harmed 
a living thing, nor saw a fish upon the shore but I gave it life, 
and threw it back into the sea ; for in our land we eat no fish, 

38 


PERSEUS 


for fear of Atergatis their queen. Yet the priests say that noth- 
ing but my blood can atone for a sin which I never committed.” 

But Perseus laughed, and said : “ A sea-monster ? I have fought 
with worse than him: I would have faced Immortals for your 
sake; how much more a beast of the sea?” 

Then Andromeda looked up at him, and new hope was 
kindled in her breast, so proud and fair did he stand, with one 
hand round her, and in the other the glittering sword. Bat she 
only sighed, and wept the more, and cried, — 

“ Why will you die, young as you are ? Is there not death 
and sorrow enough in the world already? It is noble for me to 
die, that I may save the lives of a whole people ; but you, better 
than them all, why should I slay you too ? Go you your way ; 
I must go mine.” 

But Perseus cried: “Not so; for the Lords of Olympus, 
whom I serve, are the friends of the heroes, and help them on 
to noble deeds. Led by them, I slew the Gorgon, the beautiful 
horror ; and not without them do I come hither, to slay this 
monster with that same Gorgon’s head. Yet hide your eyes when 
I leave you, lest the sight of it freeze you too to stone.” 

But the maiden answered nothing, for she could not believe 
his words. And then, suddenly looking up, she pointed to the 
sea, and shrieked, — 

“ There he comes, with the sunrise, as they promised. I must 
die now. How shall I endure it? Oh, go! Is it not dreadful 
enough to be torn piecemeal, without having you to look on?” 
And she tried to thrust him away. 

39 


THE HEROES 


But he said : “ I go ; yet promise me one thing ere I go : that 
if I slay this beast you will be my wife, and come back with 
me to my kingdom in fruitful Argos, for I am a king's heir. 
Promise me, and seal it with a kiss.” 

Then she lifted up her face, and kissed him ; and Perseus 
laughed for joy, and flew upward, while Andromeda crouched 
trembling on the rock, waiting for what might befall. 

On came the great sea-monster, coasting along like a huge 
black galley, lazily breasting the ripple, and stopping at times 
by creek or headland to watch for the laughter of girls at their 
bleaching, or cattle pawing on the sand-hills, or boys bathing 
on the beach. His great sides were fringed with clustering 
shells and sea-weeds, and the water gurgled in and out of his 
wide jaws, as he rolled along, dripping and glistening in the 
beams of the morning sun. 

At last he saw Andromeda, and shot forward to take his prey, 
while the waves foamed white behind him, and before him the 
fish fled leaping. 

Then down from the height of the air fell Perseus like a 
shooting star; down to the crests of the waves, while Andromeda 
hid her face as he shouted ; and then there was silence for a while. 

At last she looked up trembling, and saw Perseus springing 
toward her; and instead of the monster a long black rock, with 
the sea rippling quietly round it. 

Who then so proud as Perseus, as he leapt back to the rock, 
and lifted his fair Andromeda in his arms, and flew with her to 
the cliff-top, as a falcon carries a dove? 


40 



Andromeda crouched trembling on the rock waiting for what might befall. 










PERSEUS 


Who so proud as Perseus, and who 
so joyful as all the iEthiop people? 
For they had stood watching the 
monster from the cliffs, wailing for 
the maiden’s fate. And already a 
messenger had gone to Cepheus and 
Cassiopoeia, where they sat in sack- 
cloth and ashes on the ground, in 
the innermost palace chambers, 
awaiting their daughter’s end. And 
they came, and all the city with 
them, to see the wonder, with songs 
and with dances, with cymbals and 
harps, and received their daughter 
back again, as one alive from the 
dead. 

Then Cepheus said, “ Hero of the 
Hellens, stay here with me and be 
my son-in-law, and I will give you 
the half of my kingdom.” 

“ I will be your son-in-law,” said 
Perseus, “ but of your kingdom I will 
have none, for I long after the pleas- 
ant land of Greece, and my mother 
who waits for me at home.” 

Then Cepheus said: “You must 
not take my daughter away at once, 

4i 





THE HEROES 


for she is to us like one alive from the dead. Stay with us 
here a year, and after that you shall return with honour.” And 
Perseus consented; but before he went to the palace he bade 
the people bring stones and wood, and built three altars, — one 
to Athene, and one to Hermes, and one to Father Zeus, and 
offered bullocks and rams. 

And some said, “ This is a pious man ; ” yet the priests said, 
“The Sea Queen will be yet more fierce against us, because her 
monster is slain.” But they were afraid to speak aloud, for 
they feared the Gorgon’s head. So they went up to the palace ; 
and when they came in, there stood in the hall Phineus, the 
brother of Cepheus, chafing like a bear robbed of her whelps, 
and with him his sons, and his servants, and many an armed man ; 
and he cried to Cepheus, — 

“You shall not marry your daughter to this stranger, of whom 
no one knows even the name. Was not Andromeda betrothed 
to my son ? And now she is safe again, has he not a right to 
claim her?” 

But Perseus laughed, and answered : “ If your son is in want 
of a bride, let him save a maiden for himself. As yet he seems 
but a helpless bridegroom. He left this one to die, and dead 
she is to him. I saved her alive, and alive she is to me, but to 
no one else. Ungrateful man ! have I not saved your land, and 
the lives of your sons and daughters, and will you requite me 
thus? Go, or it will be worse for you!” But all the men-at- 
arms drew their swords, and rushed on him like wild beasts. 

Then he unveiled the Gorgon’s head, and said, “This has 

42 


PERSEUS 


delivered my bride from one wild beast; it shall deliver her 
from many.” And as he spoke Phineus and all his men-at-arms 
stopped short, and stiffened each man as he stood ; and before 
Perseus had drawn the goat-skin over the face again, they were 
all turned into stone. 

Then Perseus bade the people bring levers and roll them out; 
and what was done with them after that I cannot tell. 

So they made a great wedding-feast, which lasted seven whole 
days, and who so happy as Perseus and Andromeda ? 

But on the eighth night Perseus dreamed a dream; and he 
saw standing beside him Pallas Athene, as he had seen her in 
Seriphos, seven long years before; and she stood and called him 
by name, and said, — 

“ Perseus, you have played the man, and see, you have your 
reward. Know now that the Gods are just, and help him who 
helps himself. Now give me here Herpe the sword, and the 
sandals, and the hat of darkness, that I may give them back 
to their owners ; but the Gorgon’s head you shall keep a while, 
for you will need it in your land of Greece. Then you shall 
lay it up in my temple at Seriphos, that I may wear it on my 
shield for ever, a terror to the Titans and the monsters, and 
the foes of Gods and men. And as for this land, I have appeased 
the sea and the fire, and there shall be no more floods nor earth- 
quakes. But let the people build altars to Father Zeus, and to me, 
and worship the Immortals, the Lords of heaven and earth.” 

And Perseus rose to give her the sword, and the cap, and 
the sandals; but he woke, and his dream vanished away. And 

43 


THE HEROES 


yet it was not altogether a dream; for the goat-skin with the 
head was in its place; but the sword, and the cap, and the 
sandals were gone, and Perseus never saw them more. 

Then a great awe fell on Perseus; and he went out in the 
morning to the people, and told his dream, and bade them 
build altars to Zeus, the Father of Gods and men, and to 
Athene, who gives wisdom to heroes ; and fear no more the 
earthquakes and the floods, but sow and build in peace. And 
they did so for a while, and prospered; but after Perseus was 
gone they forgot Zeus and Athene, and worshipped again Ater- 
gatis the queen, and the undying fish of the sacred lake, where 
Deucalion’s deluge was swallowed up, and they burnt their chil- 
dren before the Fire King, till Zeus was angry with that foolish 
people, and brought a strange nation against them out of Egypt, 
who fought against them and wasted them utterly, and dwelt in 
their cities for many a hundred years. 


44 



PART FIVE 

How Perseus came Home again 

A ND when a year was ended Perseus hired Phoenicians 
from Tyre, and cut down cedars, and built himself a 
noble galley; and painted its cheeks with vermilion, and pitched 
its sides with pitch ; and in it he put Andromeda, and all her 
dowry of jewels, and rich shawls, and spices from the East; and 
great was the weeping when they rowed away. But the re- 
membrance of his brave deed was left behind; and Andromeda’s 
rock was shown at Iopa in Palestine till more than a thousand 
years were past. 

So Perseus and the Phoenicians rowed to the westward, across 
the sea of Crete, till they came to the blue Aegean and the 
pleasant Isles of Hellas, and Seriphos, his ancient home. 

Then he left his galley on the beach, and went up as of old; 
and he embraced his mother, and Dictys his good foster-father, 
and they wept over each other a long while, for it was seven 
years and more since they had met. 

45 


THE HEROES 


Then Perseus went out, and up to the hall of Polydectes; 
and underneath the goat-skin he bore the Gorgon’s head. 

And when he came into the hall, Polydectes sat at the table-head, 
and all his nobles and land-owners on either side, each according 
to his rank, feasting on the fish and the goat’s flesh, and drinking 
the blood-red wine. The harpers harped, and the revellers shouted, 
and the wine-cups rang merrily as they passed from hand to hand, 
and great was the noise in the hall of Polydectes. 

Then Perseus stood upon the threshold, and called to the 
king by name. But none of the guests knew Perseus, for he 
was changed by his long journey. He had gone out a boy, 
and he was come home a hero; his eye shone like an eagle’s, 
and his beard was like a lion’s beard, and he stood up like a 
wild bull in his pride. 

But Polydectes the wicked knew him, and hardened his 
heart still more; and scornfully he called, — 

“Ah, foundling! have you found it more easy to promise than 
to fulfil ? ” 

“Those whom the Gods help fulfil their promises; and those 
who despise them reap as they have sown. Behold the Gor- 
gon’s head ! ” 

Then Perseus drew back the goat-skin, and held aloft the 
Gorgon’s head. 

Pale grew Polydectes and his guests as they looked upon that 
dreadful face. They tried to rise up from their seats : but from 
their seats they never rose, but stiffened, each man where he sat, 
into a ring of cold grey stones. 

46 


PERSEUS 


Then Perseus turned and left them, and went down to his 
galley in the bay; and he gave the kingdom to good Dictys, 
and sailed away with his mother and his bride. 

And Polydectes and his guests sat still, with the wine-cups 
before them on the board, till the rafters crumbled down above 
their heads, and the walls behind their backs, and the table 
crumbled down between them, and the grass sprung up about 
their feet : but Polydectes and his guests sit on the hillside, a ring 
of grey stones until this day. 

But Perseus rowed westward toward Argos, and landed, and 
went up to the town. And when he came he found that Acrisius 
his grandfather had fled. For Prcetus his wicked brother had 
made war against him afresh ; and had come across the river 
from Tiryns, and conquered Argos, and Acrisius had fled to 
Larissa, in the country of the wild Pelasgi. 

Then Perseus called the Argives together, and told them who 
he was, and all the noble deeds which he had done. And all 
the nobles and the yeomen made him king, for they saw that he 
had a royal heart ; and they fought with him against Argos, and 
took it, and killed Prcetus, and made the Cyclopes serve them, 
and build them walls round Argos, like the walls which they 
had built at Tiryns ; and there were great rejoicings in the vale 
of Argos, because they had got a king from Father Zeus. 

But Perseus’ heart yearned after his grandfather, and he said, 
“ Surely he is my flesh and blood, and he will love me now that 
I am come home with honour : I will go and find him, and 
bring him home, and we will reign together in peace.” 

47 


THE HEROES 


So Perseus sailed away with his Phoenicians, round Hydrea 
and Sunium, past Marathon and the Attic shore, and through 
Euripus, and up the long Euboean sea, till he came to the town 
of Larissa, where the wild Pelasgi dwelt. 

And when he came there, all the people were in the fields, 
and there was feasting, and all kinds of games; for Teutamenes 
their king wished to honour Acrisius, because he was the king 
of a mighty land. 

So Perseus did not tell his name, but went up to the games 
unknown ; for he said, “ If I carry away the prize in the games, 
my grandfather's heart will be softened toward me.” 

So he threw off his helmet, and his cuirass, and all his clothes, 
and stood among the youths of Larissa, while all wondered at 
him, and said: “Who is this young stranger, who stands like a 
wild bull in his pride ? Surely he is one of the heroes, the sons 
of the Immortals, from Olympus.” 

And when the games began, they wondered yet more; for 
Perseus was the best man of all at running, and leaping, and 
wrestling, and throwing the javelin ; and he won four crowns, 
and took them, and then he said to himself, “There is a fifth 
crown yet to be won : I will win that, and lay them all upon 
the knees of my grandfather.” 

And as he spoke, he saw where Acrisius sat, by the side of Teuta- 
menes the king, with his white beard flowing down upon his knees, 
and his royal staff in his hand; and Perseus wept when he looked 
at him, for his heart yearned after his kin; and he said, “ Surely he 
is a kingly old man, yet he need not be ashamed of his grandson.” 

48 



The death of King Acrisius, 





PERSEUS 


Then he took the quoits, and hurled them, five fathoms 
beyond all the rest; and the people shouted, “ Further yet* 
brave stranger ! There has never been such a hurler in this 
land/’ 

Then Perseus put out all his strength, and hurled. But a gust 
of wind came from the sea, and carried the quoit aside, and far 
beyond all the rest ; and it fell on the foot of Acrisius, and he 
swooned away with the pain. 

Perseus shrieked, and ran up to him ; but when they lifted the 
old man up he was dead, for his life was slow and feeble. 

Then Perseus rent his clothes, and cast dust upon his head, 
and wept a long while for his grandfather. At last he rose, and 
called to all the people aloud, and said, — 

“ The Gods are true, and what they have ordained must be. 
I am Perseus, the grandson of this dead man, the far-famed slayer 
of the Gorgon.” 

Then he told them how the prophecy had declared that he 
should kill his grandfather, and all the story of his life. 

So they made a great mourning for Acrisius, and burnt him 
on a right rich pile ; and Perseus went to the temple, and was 
purified from the guilt of the death, because he had done it 
unknowingly. 

Then he went home to Argos, and reigned there well with 
fair Andromeda; and they had four sons and three daughters, 
and died in a good old age. 

And when they died, the ancients say, Athene took them up 
into the sky, with Cepheus and Cassiopoeia. And there on 

49 


4 


THE HEROES 


starlight nights you may see them shining still; Cepheus with 
his kingly crown, and Cassiopceia in her ivory chair, plaiting 
her star-spangled tresses, and Perseus with the Gorgon’s head, 
and fair Andromeda beside him, spreading her long white 
arms across the heaven, as she stood when chained to the 
stone for the monster. All night long they shine, for a beacon 
to wandering sailors ; but all day they feast with the Gods, 
on the still blue peaks of Olympus. 



5 ° 




Media shrieked and dashed the cup to the ground. 


















































V 





















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I 






























































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1 











©Jte J?ec0iitr Jrtorg 


THE ARGONAUTS 
















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Jrccoitir J?targ» — Cftc Slrgonauts' 

PART ONE 

How the Centaur trained the Heroes on Pelion 

I HAVE told you of a hero who fought with wild beasts 
and with wild men ; but now I have a tale of heroes who 
sailed away into a distant land, to win themselves renown 
for ever, in the adventure of the Golden Fleece. 

Whither they sailed, my children, I cannot clearly tell. It 
all happened long ago ; so ltfng that it has all grown dim, like 
a dream which you dreamt last year. And why they went I 
cannot tell: some say that it was to win gold. It may be so; 
but the noblest deeds which have been done on earth have not 
been done for gold. It was not for the sake of gold that the 
Lord came down and died, and the Apostles went out to preach 
the good news in all lands. The Spartans looked for no reward 
in money when they fought and died at Thermopylae ; and Soc- 
rates the wise asked no pay from his countrymen, but lived poor 
and barefoot all his days, only caring to make men good. And 

S3 


THE HEROES 


there are heroes in our days also, who do noble deeds, but not 
for gold. Our discoverers did not go to make themselves rich 
when they sailed out one after another into the dreary frozen 
seas ; nor did the ladies who went out last year to drudge in the 
hospitals of the East, making themselves poor, that they might 
be rich in noble works. And young men, too, whom you know, 
children, and some of them of your own kin, did they say to 
themselves, “ How much money shall I earn ? ” when they went 
out to the war, leaving wealth, and comfort, and a pleasant home, 
and all that money can give, to face hunger and thirst, and 
wounds and death, that they might fight for their country and 
their Queen ? No, children, there is a better thing on earth 
than wealth, a better thing than life itself; and that is, to have 
done something before you die, for which good men may honour 
you, and God your Father smile upon your work. 

Therefore we will believe — why should we not? — of these 
same Argonauts of old, that they too were noble men, who 
planned and did a noble deed; and that therefore their fame has 
lived, and been told in story and in song, mixed up, no doubt, 
with dreams and fables, and yet true and right at heart. So we 
will honour these old Argonauts, and listen to their story as it 
stands; and we will try to be like them, each of us in our place; 
for each of us has a Golden Fleece to seek, and a wild sea to 
sail over ere we reach it, and dragons to fight ere it be ours. 

And what was that first Golden Fleece? I do not know, nor 
care. The old Hellens said that it hung in Colchis, which 

54 


we 


THE ARGONAUTS 


call the Circassian coast, nailed to a beech-tree in the War-god’s 
wood; and that it was the fleece of the wondrous ram who bore 
Phrixus and Helle across the Euxine Sea. For Phrixus and Helle 
were the children of the cloud-nymph, and of Athamas the 
Minuan king. And when a famine came upon the land, their 
cruel stepmother Ino wished to kill them, that her own children 
might reign, and said that they must be sacrificed on an altar, 
to turn away the anger of the Gods. So the poor children were 
brought to the altar, and the priest stood ready with his knife, 
when out of the clouds came the Golden Ram, and took them 
on his back, and vanished. Then madness came upon that foolish 
king, Athamas, and ruin upon Ino and her children. For Athamas 
killed one of them in his fury, and Ino fled from him with the 
other in her arms, and leaped from a cliff into the sea, and was 
changed into a dolphin, such as you have seen, which wanders 
over the waves for ever sighing, with its little one clasped to 
its breast. 

But the people drove out King Athamas, because he had killed 
his child; and he roamed about in his misery, till he came to 
the Oracle in Delphi. And the Oracle told him that he must 
wander for his sin, till the wild beasts should feast him as their 
guest. So he went on in hunger and sorrow for many a weary 
day, till he saw a pack of wolves. The wolves were tearing a 
sheep; but when they saw Athamas they fled, and left the sheep 
for him, and he ate of it ; and then he knew that the oracle was 
fulfilled at last. So he wandered no more ; but settled, and built 
a town, and became a king again. 

55 


THE HEROES 


But the ram carried the two children far away over land and 
sea, till he came to the Thracian Chersonese, and there Helle 
fell into the sea. So those narrow straits are called “ Helle- 
spont, after her; and they bear that name until this day. 

Then the ram flew on with Phrixus to the north-east across 
the sea which we call the Black Sea now; but the Hellens call 
it Euxine. And at last, they say, he stopped at Colchis, on the 
steep Circassian coast; and there Phrixus married Chalciope, 
the daughter of Aietes the king, and offered the ram in sacri- 
fice; and Aietes nailed the ram’s fleece to a beech, in the grove 
of Ares the War-god. 

And after a while Phrixus died, and was buried, but his spirit 
had no rest ; for he was buried far from his native land, and the 
pleasant hills of Hellas. So he came in dreams to the heroes of 
the Minuai, and called sadly by their beds, “Come and set my 
spirit free, that I may go home to my fathers and to my kins- 
folk, and the pleasant Minuan land.” 

And they asked, “ How shall we set your spirit free ?” 

“You must sail over the sea to Colchis, and bring home the 
golden fleece; and then my spirit will come back with it, and I 
shall sleep with my fathers and have rest.” 

He came thus, and called to them often; but when they woke 
they looked at each other, and said, “Who dare sail to Colchis, 
or bring home the golden fleece ? ” And in all the country 
none was brave enough to try it; for the man and the time 
were not come. 

Phrixus had a cousin called ^Eson, who was king in Iolcos by 

56 


THE ARGONAUTS 


the sea. There he ruled over the rich Minuan heroes, as Athamas 
his uncle ruled in Boeotia ; and, like Athamas, he was an unhappy 
man. For he had a step-brother named Pelias, of whom some 
said that he was a nymph’s son, and there were dark and sad 
tales about his birth. When he was a babe he was cast out on 
the mountains, and a wild mare came by and kicked him. But 
a shepherd passing found the baby, with its face all blackened 
by the blow ; and took him home, and called him Pelias, because 
his face was bruised and black. And he grew up fierce and law- 
less, and did many a fearful deed; and at last he drove out iTson 
his step-brother, and then his own brother Neleus, and took the 
kingdom to himself, and ruled over the rich Minuan heroes, in 
Iolcos by the sea. 

And JE son, when he was driven out, went sadly away out of 
the town, leading his little son by the hand; and he said to 
himself, “I must hide the child in the mountains; or Pelias will 
surely kill him, because he is the heir.” 

So he went up from the sea across the valley, through the 
vineyards and the olive groves, and across the torrent of Anauros, 
toward Pelion, the ancient mountain, whose brows are white 
with snow. 

He went up and up into the mountain, over marsh, and crag, 
and down, till the boy was tired and footsore, and iEson had to 
bear him in his arms, till he came to the mouth of a lonely cave, 
at the foot of a mighty cliff. 

Above the cliff the snow-wreaths hung, dripping and crack- 
ing in the sun; but at its foot around the cave’s mouth grew all 

57 


THE HEROES 


fair flowers and herbs, as if in a garden, ranged in order, each 
sort by itself There they grew daily in the sunshine, and the 
spray of the torrent from above; while from the cave came the 
sound of music, and a man’s voice singing to the harp. 



“Fear not, but go in, and whomsoever you shall find, lay your 
hands upon his knees and say, i In the name of Zeus, the father 
of Gods and men, I am your guest from this day forth.’ ” 
Then the lad went in without trembling, for he too was a hero’s 
son ; but when he was within, he stopped in wonder to listen to 
that magic song. 


<8 


THE ARGONAUTS 


And there he saw the singer lying upon bearskins and fragrant 
boughs: Cheiron, the ancient centaur, the wisest of all things 
beneath the sky. Down to the waist he was a man, but below 
he was a noble horse ; his white hair rolled down over his broad 
shoulders, and his white beard over his broad brown chest; and his 
eyes were wise and mild, and his forehead like a mountain-wall. 

And in his hands he held a harp of gold, and struck it with 
a golden key; and as he struck, he sang till his eyes glittered, 
and filled all the cave with light. 

And he sang of the birth of Time, and of the heavens and the 
dancing stars; and of the ocean, and the ether, and the fire, and the 
shaping of the wondrous earth. And he sang of the treasures 
of the hills, and the hidden jewels of the mine, and the veins of 
fire and metal, and the virtues of all healing herbs, and of the 
speech of birds, and of prophecy, and of hidden things to come. 

Then he sang of health, and strength, and manhood, and a 
valiant heart ; and of music, and hunting, and wrestling, and all 
the games which heroes love ; and of travel, and wars, and sieges, 
and a noble death in fight ; and then he sang of peace and plenty, 
and of equal justice in the land ; and as he sang the boy listened 
wide-eyed, and forgot his errand in the song. 

And at the last old Cheiron was silent, and called the lad with 
a soft voice. 

And the lad ran trembling to him, and would have laid his 
hands upon his knees ; but Cheiron smiled, and said, “ Call hither 
your father iEson, for I know you, and all that has befallen, and 
saw you both afar in the valley, even before you left the town.” 

59 


THE HEROES 


Then iEson came in sadly, and Cheiron asked him, “Why 
earnest you not yourself to me, fEson the fEolid?” 

And fEson said, — 

“I thought, Cheiron will pity the lad if he sees him come 
alone ; and I wished to try whether he was fearless, and dare 
venture like a hero’s son. But now I entreat you by Father 
Zeus, let the boy be your guest till better times, and train him 
among the sons of the heroes, that he may avenge his father’s 
house.” 

Then Cheiron smiled, and drew the lad to him, and laid his 

hand upon his golden locks, and said, “ Are you afraid of my 

horse’s hoofs, fair boy, or will you be my pupil from this day?” 

“ I would gladly have horse’s hoofs like you, if I could sing 
such songs as yours.” 

And Cheiron laughed, and said, “ Sit here by me till sundown, 
when your playfellows will come home, and you shall learn like 
them to be a king, worthy to rule over gallant men.” 

Then he turned to fEson, and said, “Go back in peace, and 

bend before the storm like a prudent man. This boy shall not 

cross the Anauros again, till he has become a glory to you and 
to the house of fEolus.” 

And fEson wept over his son and went away ; but the boy did 
not weep, so full was his fancy of that strange cave, and the cen- 
taur, and his song, and the playfellows whom he was to see. 

Then Cheiron put the lyre into his hands, and taught him 
how to play it, till the sun sank low behind the cliff, and a shout 
was heard outside. 


60 


THE ARGONAUTS 


And then in came the sons of the heroes, iEneas, and Heracles, 
and Peleus, and many another mighty name. 

And great Cheiron leapt up joyfully, and his hoofs made the 
cave resound, as they shouted, “Come out, Father Cheiron; 
come out and see our game.” And one cried, “ I have killed 
two deer;” and another, “I took a wild cat among the crags;” 
and Heracles dragged a wild goat after him by its horns, for he 
was as huge as a mountain crag; and Coeneus carried a bear-cub 
under each arm, and laughed when they scratched and bit, for 
neither tooth nor steel could wound him. 

And Cheiron praised them all, each according to his deserts. 

Only one walked apart and silent, Asclepius, the too-wise child, 
with his bosom full of herbs and flowers, and round his wrist 
a spotted snake; he came with downcast eyes to Cheiron, and 
whispered how he had watched the snake cast its old skin, and 
grow young again before his eyes, and how he had gone down 
into a village in the vale, and cured a dying man with a herb 
which he had seen a sick goat eat. 

And Cheiron smiled, and said, “To each Athene and Apollo 
give some gift, and each is worthy in his place; but to this child 
they have given an honour beyond all honours, to cure while 
others kill.” 

Then the lads brought in wood, and split it, and lighted a blaz- 
ing fire; and others skinned the deer and quartered them, and 
set them to roast before the fire ; and while the venison was 
cooking they bathed in the snow-torrent, and washed away the 
dust and sweat. 


61 


THE HEROES 


And then all ate till they could eat no more (for they had 
tasted nothing since the dawn), and drank of the clear spring 
water, for wine is not fit for growing lads. And when the 
remnants were put away, they all lay down upon the skins and 
leaves about the fire, and each took the lyre in turn, and sang 
and played with all his heart. 

And after awhile they all went out to a plot of grass at the 
cave’s mouth, and there they boxed, and ran, and wrestled, and 
laughed till the stones fell from the cliffs. 

Then Cheiron took his lyre, and all the lads joined hands; 
and as he played, they danced to his measure, in and out, and 
round and round. There they danced hand in hand, till the 
night fell over land and sea, while the black glen shone with 
their broad white limbs and the gleam of their golden hair. 

And the lad danced with them, delighted, and then slept 
a wholesome sleep, upon fragrant leaves of bay, and myrtle, and 
marjoram, and flowers of thyme; and rose at the dawn, and 
bathed in the torrent, and became a schoolfellow to the heroes’ 
sons, and forgot Iolcos, and his father, and all his former life. 
But he grew strong, and brave and cunning, upon the pleasant 
downs of Pelion, in the keen hungry mountain air. And he 
learnt to wrestle, and to box, and to hunt, and to play upon the 
harp ; and next he learnt to ride, for old Cheiron used to mount 
him on his back; and he learnt the virtues of all herbs, and how 
to cure all wounds; and Cheiron called him Jason the healer* 
and that is his name until this day. 


6 2 



As he played, they danced to his measure, 





































































































































. 












































































































































































































































































































































































. 















































































PART TWO 

How "Jason lost his Sandal in Anauros 


ND ten years came and went, and Jason was grown to be 



a mighty man. Some of his fellows were gone, and 


some were growing up by his side. Asclepius was gone into 
Peloponnese to work his wondrous cures on men; and some say 
he used to raise the dead to life. And Heracles was gone to 
Thebes to fulfil those famous labours which have become a 
proverb among men. And Peleus had married a sea-nymph, 
and his wedding is famous to this day. And Aineas was gone 
home to Troy, and many a noble tale you will read of him, 
and of all the other gallant heroes, the scholars of Cheiron 
the just. And it happened on a day that Jason stood on the 
mountain, and looked north and south and east and west; and 
Cheiron stood by him and watched him, for he knew that the 
time was come. 

And Jason looked and saw the plains of Thessaly, where the 
Lapithai breed their horses; and the lake of Boibe, and the stream 


THE HEROES 


which runs northward to Peneus and Tempe; and he looked 
north, and saw the mountain wall which guards the Magnesian 
shore; Olympus, the seat of the Immortals, and Ossa, and Pelion, 
where he stood. Then he looked east and saw the bright blue 
sea, which stretched away for ever toward the dawn. Then he 
looked south, and saw a pleasant land, with white-walled towns 
and farms, nestling along the shore of a land-locked bay, while 
the smoke rose blue among the trees ; and he knew it for the 
bay of Pagasai, and the rich lowlands of Haemonia, and Iolcos 
by the sea. 

Then he sighed, and asked, “Is it true what the heroes tell 
me — that I am heir of that fair land?” 

“And what good would it be to you, Jason, if you were heir 
of that fair land?” 

“ I would take it and keep it.” 

“ A strong man has taken it and kept it long. Are you stronger 
then Pelias the terrible?” 

“I can try my strength with his,” said Jason; but Cheiron 
sighed, and said, — 

“You have many a danger to go through before you rule in 
Iolcos by the sea : many a danger and many a woe; and strange 
troubles in strange lands, such as man never saw before.” 

“The happier I,” said Jason, “to see what man never saw 
before.” 

And Cheiron sighed again, and said: “The eaglet must leave 
the nest when it is fledged. Will you go to Iolcos by the sea ? 
Then promise me two things before you go.” 

64 


THE ARGONAUTS 


Jason promised, and Cheiron answered, “ Speak harshly to no 
soul whom you may meet, and stand by the word which you 
shall speak.” 

Jason wondered why Cheiron asked this of him; but he knew 
that the Centaur was a prophet, and saw things long before they 
came. So he promised, and leapt down the mountain, to take 
his fortune like a man. 

He went down through the arbutus thickets, and across the 
downs of thyme, till he came to the vineyard walls, and the 
pomegranates and the olives in the glen ; and among the olives 
roared Anauros, all foaming with a summer flood. 

And on the bank of Anauros sat a woman, all wrinkled, grey,, 
and old; her head shook palsied on her breast, and her hands 
shook palsied on her knees ; and when she saw Jason, she spoke 
whining, “Who will carry me across the flood?” 

Jason was bold and hasty, and was just going to leap into the 
flood : and yet he thought twice before he leapt, so loud roared 
the torrent down, all brown from the mountain rains, and silver- 
veined with melting snow; while underneath he could hear the 
boulders rumbling like the tramp of horsemen or the roll of 
wheels, as they ground along the narrow channel, and shook 
the rocks on which he stood. 

But the old woman whined all the more, “ I am weak and old, 
fair youth. For Hera’s sake, carry me over the torrent.” 

And Jason was going to answer her scornfully, when Cheiron’s 
words came to his mind. 

So he said, “ For Hera’s sake, the Queen of the Immortals on 
5 65 


THE HEROES 


Olympus, I will carry you over 
the torrent, unless we both are 
drowned midway.” 

Then the old dame leapt 
upon his back, as nimbly as a 
goat ; and Jason staggered in, 
wondering; and the first step 
was up to his knees. 

The first step was up to his 
knees, and the second step was 
up to his waist ; and the stones 
rolled about his feet, and his 
feet slipped about the stones ; 
so he went on staggering and 
panting, while the old woman 
cried from off his back, — 

“Fool, you have wet my 
mantle! Do you make game 
of poor old souls like me?” 

Jason had half a mind to 
drop her, and let her get 
through the torrent by her- 
self; but Cheiron’s words were 
in his mind, and he said only, 
“ Patience, mother, the best 
horse may stumble some 
day.” 



66 




THE ARGONAUTS 


At last he staggered to the shore, and set her down upon the 
bank; and a strong man he needed to have been, or that wild 
water he never would have crossed. 

He lay panting awhile upon the bank, and then leapt up to 
go upon his journey; but he cast one look at the old woman, for 
he thought, “ She should thank me once at least.” 

And as he looked, she grew fairer than all women, and taller 
than all men on earth ; and her garments shone like the summer 
sea, and her jewels like the stars of heaven; and over her fore- 
head was a veil, woven of the golden clouds of sunset ; and 
through the veil she looked down on him, with great soft 
heifer's eyes; with great eyes, mild and awful, which filled all 
the glen with light. 

And Jason fell upon his knees, and hid his face between his 
hands. 

And she spoke : “I am the Queen of Olympus, Hera the wife 
of Zeus. As thou hast done to me, so will I do to thee. Call 
on me in the hour of need, and try if the Immortals can forget.” 

And when Jason looked up, she rose from off the earth, like 
a pillar of tall white cloud, and floated away across the mountain 
peaks, toward Olympus the holy hill. 

Then a great fear fell on Jason: but after awhile he grew 
light of heart; and he blessed old Cheiron, and said, “ Surely the 
Centaur is a prophet, and guessed what would come to pass, when 
he bade me speak harshly to no soul whom I might meet.” 

Then he went down toward Iolcos ; and as he walked he found 
that he had lost one of his sandals in the flood. 

67 


THE HEROES 


And as he went through the streets, the people came out to 
look at him, so tall and fair was he; but some of the elders 
whispered together ; and at last one of them stopped Jason, and 
called to him, “ Fair lad, who are you, and whence come you ; 
and what is your errand in the town ? ” 

“ My name, good father, is Jason, and I come from Pelion up 
above ; and my errand is to Pelias your king ; tell me then where 
his palace is.” 

But the old man started, and grew pale, and said, “ Do you not 
know the oracle, my son, that you go so boldly through the town 
with but one sandal on ?” 

“ I am a stranger here, and know of no oracle ; but what of my 
one sandal ? I lost the other in Anauros, while I was struggling 
with the flood.” 

Then the old man looked back to his companions ; and one 
sighed, and another smiled; at last he said: “ I will tell you, lest 
you rush upon your ruin unawares. The oracle in Delphi has 
said that a man wearing one sandal should take the kingdom from 
Pelias, and keep it for himself. Therefore beware how you go up 
to his palace, for he is the fiercest and most cunning of all kings.” 

Then Jason laughed a great laugh, like a war-horse in his 
pride. “ Good news, good father, both for you and me. For 
that very end I came into the town.” 

Then he strode on toward the palace of Pelias, while all the 
people wondered at his bearing. 

And he stood in the doorway, and cried, “ Come out, come out, 
Pelias the valiant, and fight for your kingdom like a man.” 

68 


THE ARGONAUTS 

Pelias came out wondering, and “ Who are you, bold youth ? ” 
he cried. 

“ I am Jason, the son of ^Eson, the heir of all this land.” 

Then Pelias lifted up his hands and eyes, and wept, or seemed 
to weep ; and blessed the heavens which had brought his nephew 
to him, never to leave him more. “ For,” said he, “I have but 
three daughters, and no son to be my heir. You shall be my 
heir then, and rule the kingdom after me, and marry whichso- 
ever of my daughters you shall choose ; though a sad kingdom 
you will find it, and whosoever rules it a miserable man. But 
come in, come in, and feast.” 

So he drew Jason in, whether he would or not, and spoke to 
him so lovingly and feasted him so well, that Jason’s anger 
passed ; and after supper his three cousins came into the hall, 
and Jason thought that he should like well enough to have one 
of them for his wife. 

But at last he said to Pelias: “Why do you look so sad, my 
uncle ? And what did you mean just now when you said that 
this was a doleful kingdom, and its ruler a miserable man?” 

Then Pelias sighed heavily again and again and again, like 
a man who had to tell some dreadful story, and was afraid to 
begin ; but at last, — 

“For seven long years and more have I never known a quiet 
night ; and no more will he who comes after me, till the golden 
fleece be brought home.” 

Then he told Jason the story of Phrixus, and of the golden 
fleece; and told him, too, which was a lie, that Phrixus’ spirit 

69 


THE HEROES 


tormented him, calling to him day and night. And his daughters 
came, and told the same tale (for their father had taught them 
their parts), and wept, and said, “Oh who will bring home the 
golden fleece, that our uncle’s spirit may rest ; and that we may 
have rest also, whom he never lets sleep in peace ? ” 

Jason sat awhile, sad and silent; for he had often heard of 
that golden fleece ; but he looked on it as a thing hopeless and 
impossible for any mortal man to win it. 

But when Pelias saw him silent, he began to talk of other 
things, and courted Jason more and more, speaking to him as 
if he was certain to be his heir, and asking his advice about the 
kingdom ; till Jason, who was young and simple, could not help 
saying to himself: “Surely he is not the dark man whom people 
call him. Yet why did he drive my father out?” And he 
asked Pelias boldly : “ Men say that you are terrible, and a man 
of blood; but I find you a kind and hospitable man; and as 
you are to me, so will I be to you. Yet why did you drive my 
father out ? ” 

Pelias smiled, and sighed. “ Men have slandered me in that, 
as in all things. Your father was growing old and weary, and 
he gave the kingdom up to me of his own will. You shall see 
him to-morrow, and ask him; and he will tell you the same.” 

Jason’s heart leapt in him when he heard that he was to see 
his father ; and he believed all that Pelias said, forgetting that 
his father might not dare to tell the truth. 

“One thing more there is,” said Pelias, “on which I need 
your advice; for, though you are young, I see in you a wisdom 

70 



Why do yon look so sad, my uncle? 








THE ARGONAUTS 


beyond your years. There is one neighbour of mine whom I 
dread more than all men on earth. I am stronger than he now, 
and can command him ; but I know that if he stay among us, 
he will work my ruin in the end. Can you give me a plan, 
Jason, by which I can rid myself of that man?” 

After awhile Jason answered, half laughing, “Were I you, I 
would send him to fetch that same golden fleece ; for if he once 
set forth after it you would never be troubled with him more.” 

And at that a bitter smile came across Pelias’ lips, and a flash 
of wicked joy into his eyes; and Jason saw it, and started; and 
over his mind came the warning of the old man, and his own one 
sandal, and the oracle, and he saw that he was taken in a trap. 

But Pelias only answered gently, “ My son, he shall be sent 
forthwith.” 

“You mean me?” cried Jason, starting up, “because I came 
here with one sandal?” And he lifted his fist angrily, while 
Pelias stood up to him like a wolf at bay ; and whether of the 
two was the stronger and the fiercer it would be hard to tell. 

But after a moment Pelias spoke gently : “ Why then so rash, 
my son? You, and not I, have said what is said; why blame 
me for what I have not done? Had you bid me love the man 
of whom I spoke, and make him my son-in-law and heir, I would 
have obeyed you; and what if I obey you now, and send the 
man to win himself immortal fame? I have not harmed you, 
or him. One thing at least I know, that he will go, and that 
gladly ; for he has a hero’s heart within him, loving glory, and 
scorning to break the word which he has given.” 

7 1 


THE HEROES 


Jason saw that he was entrapped; but his second promise to 
Cheiron came into his mind, and he thought, “ What if the 
Centaur were a prophet in that also, and meant that I should 
win the fleece ! ” Then he cried aloud, — 

“ You have well spoken, cunning uncle of mine! I love 
glory, and I dare keep to my word. I will go and fetch this 
golden fleece. Promise me but this in return, and keep your 
word as I keep mine. Treat my father lovingly while I am 
gone, for the sake of the all-seeing Zeus; and give me up the 
kingdom for my own on the day that I bring back the golden 
fleece.” 

Then Pelias looked at him and almost loved him, in the midst 
of all his hate; and said: “I promise, and I will perform. It 
will be no shame to give up my kingdom to the man who wins 
that fleece.” 

Then they swore a great oath between them ; and afterwards 
both went in, and lay down to sleep. 

But Jason could not sleep for thinking of his mighty oath, and 
how he was to fulfil it, all alone, and without wealth or friends. 
So he tossed a long time upon his bed, and thought of this plan 
and of that; and sometimes Phrixus seemed to call him, in a thin 
voice, faint and low, as if it came from far across the sea, “ Let 
me come home to my fathers and have rest.” And sometimes 
he seemed to see the eyes of Hera, and to hear her words again, — 
“ Call on me in the hour of need, and see if the Immortals can 
forget.” 

And on the morrow he went to Pelias, and said, “Give me 

72 


THE ARGONAUTS 


a victim, that I may sacrifice to Hera.” So he went up, and 
offered his sacrifice; and as he stood by the altar Hera sent a 
thought into his mind ; and he went back to Pelias, and said, — 

“If you are indeed in earnest, give me two heralds, that they 
may go round to all the princes of the Minuai, who were pupils 
of the Centaur with me, that we may fit out a ship together, 
and take what shall befall.” 

At that Pelias praised his wisdom, and hastened to send the 
heralds out ; for he said in his heart, “ Let all the princes go with 
him, and, like him, never return ; for so I shall be lord of all the 
Minuai, and the greatest king in Hellas. ,, 


73 



PART THREE 

How they built the Ship “Argo” in lolcos 

S O the heralds went out, and cried to all the heroes of 
the Minuai, “Who dare come to the adventure of the 
golden fleece ?” 

And Hera stirred the hearts of all the princes, and they came 
from all their valleys to the yellow sands of Pagasai. And first 
came Heracles the mighty, with his lion’s skin and club, and 
behind him Hylas his young squire, who bore his arrows and 
his bow; and Tiphys, the skilful steersman; and Butes, the fairest 
of all men; and Castor and Polydeuces the twins, the sons of 
the magic swan ; and Caeneus, the strongest of mortals, whom the 
Centaurs tried in vain to kill, and overwhelmed him with trunks 
of pine-trees, but even so he would not die; and thither came 
Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of the north wind; and Peleus, 
the father of Achilles, whose bride was silver-footed Thetis, the 
goddess of the sea. And thither came Telamon and Oileus, the 
fathers of the two Aiantes, who fought upon the plains of Troy; 

74 


THE ARGONAUTS 


and Mopsus, the wise soothsayer, who knew the speech of birds ; 
and Idmon, to whom Phoebus gave a tongue to prophesy of 
things to come ; and Ancaios, who could read the stars, and 
knew all the circles of the heavens ; and Argus, the famed ship- 
builder, and many a hero more, in helmets of brass and gold 
with tall dyed horse-hair crests, and embroidered shirts of linen 
beneath their coats of mail, and greaves of polished tin to guard 
their knees in fight ; with each man his shield upon his shoulder, 
of many a fold of tough bull's hide, and his sword of tempered 
bronze in his silver-studded belt ; and in his right hand a pair 
of lances, of the heavy white ash-staves. 

So they came down to Iolcos, and all the city came out to 
meet them, and were never tired with looking at their height, 
and their beauty, and their gallant bearing, and the glitter of 
their inlaid arms. And some said, “ Never was such a gather- 
ing of the heroes since the Hellens conquered the land." But 
the women sighed over them, and whispered, “ Alas ! they are 
all going to their death ! ” 

Then they felled the pines on Pelion, and shaped them with 
the axe, and Argus taught them to build a galley, the first long 
ship which ever sailed the seas. They pierced her for fifty 
oars — an oar for each hero of the crew — and pitched her with 
coal-black pitch, and painted her bows with vermilion ; and they 
named her Argo after Argus, and worked at her all day long. 
And at night Pelias feasted them like a king, and they slept in 
his palace-porch. 

But Jason went away to the northward, and into the land of 

75 


THE HEROES 


Thrace, till he found Orpheus, the prince of minstrels, where he 
dwelt in his cave under Rhodope, among the savage Cicon tribes. 
And he asked him, “Will you leave your mountains, Orpheus, 
my fellow-scholar in old times, and cross Strymon once more 
with me, to sail with the heroes of the Minuai, and bring home 
the golden fleece, and charm for us all men and all monsters 
with your magic harp and song?” 

Then Orpheus sighed, “Have I not had enough of toil and 
of weary wandering far and wide since I lived in Cheiron’s cave, 
above Iolcos by the sea? In vain is the skill and the voice which 
my goddess mother gave me; in vain have I sung and laboured; 
in vain I went down to the dead, and charmed all the kings of 
Hades, to win back Eurydice my bride. For I won her, my 
beloved, and lost her again the same day, and wandered away in 
my madness, even to Egypt and the Libyan sands, and the isles 
of all the seas, driven on by the terrible gadfly, while I charmed 
in vain the hearts of men, and the savage forest beasts, and the 
trees, and the lifeless stones, with my magic harp and song, 
giving rest, but finding none. But at last Calliope my mother 
delivered me, and brought me home in peace; and I dwell here 
in the cave alone, among the savage Cicon tribes, softening their 
wild hearts with music and the gentle laws of Zeus. And now 
I must go out again, to the ends of all the earth, far away into 
the misty darkness, to the last wave of the Eastern Sea. But 
what is doomed must be, and a friend’s demand obeyed; for 
prayers are the daughters of Zeus, and who honours them 
honours him.” 


76 


THE ARGONAUTS 


Then Orpheus rose up sighing, and took his harp, and went 
over Strymon. And he led Jason to the south-west, up the 
banks of Haliacmon and over the spurs of Pindus, to Dodona, 
the town of Zeus, where it stood by the side of the sacred lake, 
and the fountain which breathed out fire, in the darkness of the 
ancient oakwood, beneath the mountain of the hundred springs. 
And he led him to the holy oak, where the black dove settled 
in old times, and was changed into the priestess of Zeus, and 
gave oracles to all nations round. And he bade him cut down a 
bough, and sacrifice to Hera and to Zeus ; and they took the bough 
and came to Iolcos, and nailed it to the beak-head of the ship. 

And at last the ship was finished, and they tried to launch her 
down the beach ; but she was too heavy for them to move her, 
and her keel sank deep into the sand. Then all the heroes 
looked at each other blushing; but Jason spoke, and said, “Let us 
ask the magic bough; perhaps it can help us in our need.” 

Then a voice came from the bough, and Jason heard the words 
it said, and bade Orpheus play upon the harp, while the heroes 
waited round, holding the pine-trunk rollers, to help her toward 
the sea. 

Then Orpheus took his harp, and began his magic song — 
“How sweet it is to ride upon the surges, and to leap from wave 
to wave, while the wind sings cheerful in the cordage, and the 
oars flash fast among the foam ! How sweet it is to roam across 
the ocean, and see new towns and wondrous lands, and to come 
home laden with treasure, and to win undying fame!” 

And the good ship Argo heard him, and longed to be away 

77 


THE HEROES 


and out at sea ; till she stirred in every timber, and heaved from 
stem to stern, and leapt up from the sand upon the rollers, and 
plunged onward like a gallant horse; and the heroes fed her path 
with pine-trunks, till she rushed into the whispering sea. 

Then they stored her well with food and water, and pulled 
the ladder up on board, and settled themselves each man to his 
oar, and kept time to Orpheus’ harp ; and away across the bay 
they rowed southward, while the people lined the cliffs ; and 
the women wept, while the men shouted, at the starting of that 
gallant crew. 


78 



PART FOUR 

How the Argonauts sailed to Colchis 



ND what happened next, my children, whether it be true 


or not, stands written in ancient songs, which you shall 


read for yourselves some day. And grand old songs they are, 
written in grand old rolling verse ; and they call them the Songs 
of Orpheus, or the Orphics, to this day. And they tell how the 
heroes came to Aphetai, across the bay, and waited for the south- 
west wind, and chose themselves a captain from their crew: and 
how all called for Heracles, because he was the strongest and 
most huge; but Heracles refused, and called for Jason, because 
he was the wisest of them all. So Jason was chosen captain ; 
and Orpheus heaped a pile of wood, and slew a bull, and offered 
it to Hera, and called all the heroes to stand round, each man’s 
head crowned with olive, and to strike their swords into the bull. 
Then he filled a golden goblet with the bull’s blood, and with 
wheaten flour, and honey, and wine, and the bitter salt-sea water, 


79 


THE HEROES 


and bade the heroes taste. So each tasted the goblet, and passed 
it round, and vowed an awful vow: and they vowed before the 
sun, and the night, and the blue-haired sea who shakes the land, 
to stand by Jason faithfully in the adventure of the golden fleece; 
and whosoever shrank back, or disobeyed, or turned traitor to his 
vow, then justice should minister against him, and the Erinnues 
who track guilty men. 

Then Jason lighted the pile, and burnt the carcase of the bull; 
and they went to their ship and sailed eastward, like men who 
have a work to do; and the place from which they went was 
called Aphetai, the sailing-place, from that day forth. Three 
thousand years or more they sailed away, into the unknown 
Eastern seas; and great nations have come and gone since then, 
and many a storm has swept the earth; and many a mighty 
armament, to which Argo would be but one small boat ; Eng- 
lish and French, Turkish and Russian, have sailed those waters 
since; yet the fame of that small Argo lives for ever, and her 
name is become a proverb among men. 

So they sailed past the Isle of Sciathos, with the Cape of Sepius 
on their left, and turned to the northward toward Pelion, up the 
long Magnesian shore. On their right hand was the open sea, 
and on their left old Pelion rose, while the clouds crawled round 
his dark pine-forests, and his caps of summer snow. And their 
hearts yearned for the dear old mountain, as they thought of 
pleasant days gone by, and of the sports of their boyhood, and 
their hunting, and their schooling in the cave beneath the cliff. 
And at last Peleus spoke : “ Let us land here, friends, and climb 

80 


THE ARGONAUTS 


the dear old hill once more. We are going on a fearful 
journey; who knows if we shall see Pelion again? Let us 
go up to Cheiron our master, and ask his blessing ere we 
start. And I have a boy, too, with him, whom he trains 
as he trained me once — the son whom Thetis brought me, 
the silver-footed lady of the sea, whom I caught in the cave, 
and tamed her, though she changed her shape seven times. 
For she changed, as I held her, into water, and to vapour, 
and to burning flame, and to a rock, and to a black-maned 
lion, and to a tall and stately tree. But I held her and 
held her ever, till she took her own shape again, and led 
her to my father’s house, and won her for my bride. And all 
the rulers of Olympus came to our wedding, and the heavens 
and the earth rejoiced together, when an Immortal wedded 
mortal man. And now let me see my son; for it is not often 
I shall see him upon earth : famous he will be, but short-lived, 
and die in the flower of youth.” 

So Tiphys the helmsman steered them to the shore under the 
crags of Pelion ; and they went up through the dark pine-forests 
towards the Centaur’s cave. 

And they came into the misty hall, beneath the snow-crowned 
crag ; and saw the great Centaur lying, with his huge limbs 
spread upon the rock ; and beside him stood Achilles, the child 
whom no steel could wound, and played upon his harp right 
sweetly, while Cheiron watched and smiled. 

Then Cheiron leapt up and welcomed them, and kissed them 
every one, and set a feast before them of swine’s flesh, and 
6 81 


THE HEROES 


venison, and good wine ; and young Achilles served them, and 
carried the golden goblet round. And after supper all the heroes 
clapped their hands, and called on Orpheus to sing; but he re- 
fused, and said, “ How can I, who am the younger, sing before 
our ancient host ? ” So they called on Cheiron to sing, and 
Achilles brought him his harp ; and he began a wondrous song ; 
a famous story of old time, of the fight between the Centaurs 
and the Lapithai, which you may still see carved in stone . 1 He 
sang how his brothers came to ruin by their folly, when they 
were mad with wine ; and how they and the heroes fought, with 
fists, and teeth, and the goblets from which they drank ; and 
how they tore up the pine-trees in their fury, and hurled great 
crags of stone, while the mountains thundered with the battle, 
and the land was wasted far and wide; till the Lapithai drove 
them from their home in the rich Thessalian plains to the lonely 
glens of Pindus, leaving Cheiron all alone. And the heroes 
praised his song right heartily ; for some of them had helped 
in that great fight. 

Then Orpheus took the lyre, and sang of Chaos, and the 
making of the wondrous World, and how all things sprang 
from Love, who could not live alone in the Abyss. And as he 
sang, his voice rose from the cave, above the crags, and through 
the tree-tops, and the glens of oak and pine. And the trees 
bowed their heads when they heard it, and the grey rocks 
cracked and rang, and the forest beasts crept near to listen, and 
the birds forsook their nests and hovered round. And old 


1 In the Elgin Marbles. 
82 


THE ARGONAUTS 

Cheiron clapt his hands together, and beat his hoofs upon the 
ground, for wonder at that magic song. 

Then Peleus kissed his boy, and wept over him, and they went 
down to the ship ; and Cheiron came down with them, weeping, 
and kissed them one by one, and blest them, and promised to 
them great renown. And the heroes wept when they left him, 
till their great hearts could weep no more ; for he was kind and 
just and pious, and wiser than all beasts and men. Then he went 
up to a cliff, and prayed for them, that they might come home 
safe and well; while the heroes rowed away, and watched him 
standing on his cliff above the sea, with his great hands raised 
toward heaven, and his white locks waving in the wind ; and 
they strained their eyes to watch him to the last, for they felt 
that they should look on him no more. 

So they rowed on over the long swell of the sea, past Olympus, 
the seat of the Immortals, and past the wooded bays of Athos, 
and Samothrace the sacred isle ; and they came past Lemnos to 
the Hellespont, and through the narrow strait of Abydos, and 
so on into the Propontis, which we call Marmora now. And 
there they met with Cyzicus, ruling in Asia over the Dolions, 
who, the songs say, was the son of iEneas, of whom you will hear 
many a tale some day. For Homer tells us how he fought at 
Troy, and Virgil how he sailed away and founded Rome; and 
men believed until late years that from him sprang our old British 
kings. Now Cyzicus, the songs say, welcomed the heroes, for 
his father had been one of Cheiron’s scholars: so he welcomed 
them, and feasted them, and stored their ship with corn and 

83 


THE HEROES 


wine, and cloaks and rugs, the songs say, and shirts, of which 
no doubt they stood in need. 

But at night, when they lay sleeping, came down on them 
terrible men, who lived with the bears in the mountains, like 
Titans or giants in shape; for each of them had six arms, and 
they fought with young firs and pines. But Heracles killed them 
all before morn with his deadly poisoned arrows ; but among 
them, in the darkness, he slew Cyzicus the kindly prince. 

Then they got to their ship and to their oars, and Tiphys 
bade them cast off the hawsers and go to sea. But as he spoke 
a whirlwind came, and spun the Argo round, and twisted the 
hawsers together, so that no man could loose them. Then 
Tiphys dropped the rudder from his hand, and cried, “This 
comes from the Gods above.” But Jason went forward, and 
asked counsel of the magic bough. 

Then the magic bough spoke, and answered : “ This is because 
you have slain Cyzicus your friend. You must appease his soul, 
or you will never leave this shore.” 

Jason went back sadly, and told the heroes what he had heard. 
And they leapt on shore, and searched till dawn; and at dawn 
they found the body, all rolled in dust and blood, among the 
corpses of those monstrous beasts. And they wept over their 
kind host, and laid him on a fair bed, and heaped a huge mound 
over him, and offered black sheep at his tomb, and Orpheus sang 
a magic song to him, that his spirit might have rest. And then 
they held games at the tomb, after the custom of those times, 
and Jason gave prizes to each winner. To Ancaeus he gave a 

84 


THE ARGONAUTS 


golden cup, for he wrestled best of all ; and to Heracles a silver 
one, for he was the strongest of all ; and to Castor, who rode best, 
a golden crest ; and Polydeuces the boxer had a rich carpet, and 
to Orpheus for his song a sandal with golden wings. But Jason 
himself was the best of all the archers, and the Minuai crowned 
him with an olive crown ; and so, the songs say, the soul of good 
Cyzicus was appeased and the heroes went on their way in peace. 

But when Cyzicus’ wife heard that he was dead she died like- 
wise of grief ; and her tears became a fountain of clear water, 
which flows the whole year round. 

Then they rode away, the songs say, along the Mysian shore, 
and past the mouth of Rhindacus, till they found a pleasant bay, 
sheltered by the long ridges of Arganthus, and by high walls of 
basalt rock. And there they ran the ship ashore upon the yellow 
sand, and furled the sail, and took the mast down, and lashed it 
in its crutch. And next they let down the ladder, and went 
ashore to sport and rest. 

And there Heracles went away into the woods, bow in hand, 
to hunt wild deer; and Hylas the fair boy slipt away after him, 
and followed him by stealth, until he lost himself among the 
glens, and sat down weary to rest himself by the side of a lake ; 
and there the water nymphs came up to look at him, and loved 
him, and carried him down under the lake to be their playfellow, 
for ever happy and young. And Heracles sought for him in 
vain, shouting his name till all the mountains rang ; but Hylas 
never heard him, far down under the sparkling lake. So while 
Heracles wandered searching for him, a fair breeze sprang up, 

85 


THE HEROES 


and Heracles was nowhere to be found; and the Argo sailed 
away, and Heracles was left behind, and never saw the noble 
Phasian stream. 

Then the Minuai came to a doleful land, where Amycus the 
giant ruled, and cared nothing for the laws of Zeus, but chal- 
lenged all strangers to box with him, and those whom he con- 
quered he slew. But Polydeuces the boxer struck him a harder 
blow than he ever felt before, and slew him; and the Minuai 
went on up the Bosphorus, till they came to the city of Phineus, 
the fierce Bithynian king; for Zetes and Calais bade Jason land 
there, because they had a work to do. 

And they went up from the shore toward the city, through 
forests white with snow; and Phineus came out to meet them 
with a lean and woful face, and said, “ Welcome, gallant heroes, 
to the land of bitter blasts, the land of cold and misery; yet I 
will feast you as best I can.” And he led them in, and set meat 
before them; but before they could put their hands to their 
mouths, down came two fearful monsters, the like of whom man 
never saw ; for they had the faces and the hair of fair maidens, 
but the wings and claws of hawks ; and they snatched the meat 
from off the table, and flew shrieking out above the roofs. 

Then Phineus beat his breast and cried: “ These are the 
Harpies, whose names are the Whirlwind and the Swift, the 
daughters of Wonder and of the Amber-nymph, and they rob 
us night and day. They carried off he daughters of Pandareus, 
whom all the Gods had blest ; for Aphrodite fed them on 
Olympus with honey and milk and wine; and Hera gave them 

86 



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THE ARGONAUTS 


beauty and wisdom, and Athene skill in all the arts; but when 
they came to their wedding, the Harpies snatched them both 
away, and gave them to be slaves to the Erinnues, and live in 
horror all their days. And now they haunt me, and my people, 
and the Bosphorus, with fearful storms; and sweep away our 
food from off our tables, so that we starve in spite of all our 
wealth.” 

Then up rose Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of the North- 
wind, and said, “Do you not know us, Phineus, and these wings 
which grow upon our backs?” And Phineus hid his face in 
terror; but he answered not a word. 

“ Because you have been a traitor, Phineus, the Harpies haunt 
you night and day. Where is Cleopatra our sister, your wife, 
whom you keep in prison? and where are her two children, 
whom you blinded in your rage, at the bidding of an evil woman, 
and cast them out upon the rocks? Swear to us that you will 
right our sister, and cast out that wicked woman ; and then we 
will free you from your plague, and drive the whirlwind maidens 
to the south; but if not, we will put out your eyes, as you put 
out the eyes of your own sons.” 

Then Phineus swore an oath to them, and drove out the 
wicked woman ; and Jason took those two poor children, and 
cured their eyes with magic herbs. 

But Zetes and Calais rose up sadly and said, “ Farewell now, 
heroes all ; farewell, our dear companions, with whom we played 
on Pelion in old times; for a fate is laid upon us, and our day 
is come at last, in which we must hunt the whirlwinds over land 

87 


THE HEROES 

and sea for ever; and if we catch them they die, and if not, we 
die ourselves.” 

At that all the heroes wept; but the two young men sprang 
up, and aloft into the air after the Harpies, and the battle of the 
winds began. 

The heroes trembled in silence as they heard the shrieking 
of the blasts ; while the palace rocked and all the city, and great 
stones were torn from the crags, and the forest pines were hurled 
earthward, north and south and east and west, and the Bosphorus 
boiled white with foam, and the clouds were dashed against 
the cliffs. 

But at last the battle ended, and the Harpies fled screaming 
toward the south, and the sons of the North-wind rushed after 
them, and brought clear sunshine where they passed. For many 
a league they followed them, over all the isles of the Cyclades, 
and away to the south-west across Hellas, till they came to the 
Ionian Sea, and there they fell upon the Echinades, at the mouth 
of the Achelous; and those isles were called the Whirlwind 
Isles for many a hundred years. But what became of Zetes and 
Calais I know not, for the heroes never saw them again : and 
some say that Heracles met them, and quarrelled with them, 
and slew them with his arrows ; and some say that they fell down 
from weariness and the heat of the summer sun, and that the Sun- 
god buried them among the Cyclades, in the pleasant Isle of 
Tenos ; and for many hundred years their grave was shown there, 
and over it a pillar, which turned to every wind. But those dark 
storms and whirlwinds haunt the Bosphorus until this day. 

88 


THE ARGONAUTS 


But the Argonauts went eastward, and out into the open sea, 
which we now call the Black Sea, but it was called the Euxine 
then. No Hellen had ever crossed it, and all feared that dread- 
ful sea, and its rocks, and shoals, and fogs, and bitter freezing 
storms ; and they told strange stories of it, some false and some 
half-true, how it stretched northward to the ends of the earth, 
and the sluggish Putrid Sea, and the everlasting night, and the 
regions of the dead. So the heroes trembled, for all their cour- 
age, as they came into that wild Black Sea, and saw it stretching 
out before them, without a shore, as far as eye could see. 

And first Orpheus spoke, and warned them, “We shall come 
now to the wandering blue rocks; my mother warned me of 
them, Calliope, the immortal muse.” 

And soon they saw the blue rocks shining like spires and castles 
of grey glass, while an ice-cold wind blew from them and chilled 
all the heroes’ hearts. And as they neared they could see them 
heaving, as they rolled upon the long sea-waves, crashing and 
grinding together, till the roar went up to heaven. The sea 
sprang up in spouts between them, and swept round them in 
white sheets of foam ; but their heads swung nodding high in 
air, while the wind whistled shrill among the crags. 

The heroes’ hearts sank within them, and they lay upon their 
oars in fear; but Orpheus called to Tiphys the helmsman, “Be- 
tween them we must pass ; so look ahead for an opening, and be 
brave, for Hera is with us.” But Tiphys the cunning helmsman 
stood silent, clenching his teeth, till he saw a heron come flying 
mast-hieh toward the rocks, and hover awhile before them, as 

o 

89 


THE HEROES 



if looking for a passage through. 
Then he cried, “Hera has sent us 
a pilot; let us follow the cunning 
bird.” 

Then the heron flapped to and fro 
a moment, till he saw a hidden gap, 
and into it he rushed like an arrow, 
while the heroes watched what would 
befall. 

And the blue rocks clashed together 
as the bird fled swiftly through ; but 
they struck but a feather from his 
tail, and then rebounded apart at the 
shock. 

Then Tiphys cheered the heroes, 
and they shouted; and the oars bent 
like withes beneath their strokes as 
they rushed between those toppling 
ice-crags and the cold blue lips of 
death. And ere the rocks could 
meet again they had passed them, 
and were safe out in the open sea. 

And after that they sailed on 
wearily along the Asian coast, by the 
Black Cape and Thyneis, where the 
hot stream of Thymbris falls into 
the sea, and Sangarius, whose waters 
90 


THE ARGONAUTS 

float on the Euxine, till they came to Wolf the river, and to 
Wolf the kindly king. And there died two brave heroes, 
Idmon and Tiphys the wise helmsman: one died of an evil 
sickness, and one a wild boar slew. So the heroes heaped a 
mound above them, and set upon it an oar on high, and left 
them there to sleep together, on the far-off Lycian shore. 
But Idas killed the boar, and avenged Tiphys; and Ancaios 
took the rudder and was helmsman, and steered them on toward 
the east. 

And they went on past Sinope, and many a mighty river’s 
mouth, and past many a barbarous tribe, and the cities of the 
Amazons, the warlike women of the East, till all night they 
heard the clank of anvils and the roar of furnace-blasts, and 
the forge-fires shone like sparks through the darkness in the 
mountain glens aloft ; for they were come to the shores of the 
Chalybes, the smiths who never tire, but serve Ares the cruel 
War-god, forging weapons day and night. 

And at day-dawn they looked eastward, and midway between 
the sea and the sky they saw white snow-peaks hanging, glitter- 
ing sharp and bright above the clouds. And they knew that 
they were come to Caucasus, at the end of all the earth : Caucasus 
the highest of all mountains, the father of the rivers of the East. 
On his peak lies chained the Titan, while a vulture tears his 
heart; and at his feet are piled dark forests round the magic 
Colchian land. 

And they rowed three days to the eastward, while Caucasus 
higher hour by hour, till they saw the dark stream of 
9 1 


rose 


THE HEROES 


Phasis rushing headlong to the sea, and, shining above the tree- 
tops, the golden roofs of King Aietes, the child of the Sun. 

Then out spoke Ancaios the helmsman : “ We are come to 
our goal at last, for there are the roofs of Aietes, and the woods 
where all poisons grow; but who can tell us where among them 
is hid the golden fleece ? Many a toil must we bear ere we find 
it, and bring it home to Greece.” 



But Jason cheered the heroes, for his heart was high and 
bold; and he said: “I will go alone up to Aietes, though he 
be the child of the Sun, and win him with soft words. Better 
so than to go all together, and to come to blows at once.” 
But the Minuai would not stay behind, so they rowed boldly 
up the stream. 

And a dream came to Aietes, and filled his heart with fear. 
He thought he saw a shining star, which fell into his daughter’s 
lap ; and that Medeia his daughter took it gladly, and carried it 
to the river-side, and cast it in, and there the whirling river bore 
it down, and out into the Euxine Sea. 


92 


THE ARGONAUTS 


Then he leapt up in fear, and bade his servants bring his 
chariot, that he might go down to the river-side and appease 
the nymphs, and the heroes whose spirits haunt the bank. So 
he went down in his golden chariot, and his daughters by his 
side, Medeia the fair witch-maiden, and Chalciope, who had 
been Phrixus’ wife, and behind him a crowd of servants and 
soldiers, for he was a rich and mighty prince. 

And as he drove down by the reedy river he saw Argo sliding 
up beneath the bank, and many a hero in her, like Immortals 
for beauty and for strength, as their weapons glittered round 
them in the level morning sunlight, through the white mist of 
the stream. But Jason was the noblest of all; for Hera, who loved 
him, gave him beauty and tallness and terrible manhood. 

And when they came near together and looked into each 
other’s eyes the heroes were awed before Aietes as he shone in 
his chariot, like his father the glorious Sun ; for his robes were 
of rich gold tissue, and the rays of his diadem flashed fire ; and 
in his hand he bore a jewelled sceptre, which glittered like the 
stars ; and sternly he looked at them under his brows, and sternly 
he spoke and loud, — 

“Who are you, and what want you here, that you come to 
the shore of Cutaia ? Do you take no account of my rule, nor 
of my people the Colchians who serve me, who never tired yet 
in the battle, and know well how to face an invader?” 

And the heroes sat silent awhile before the face of that ancient 
king. But Hera the awful goddess put courage into Jason’s heart, 
and he rose and shouted loudly in answer: “We are no pirates 

93 


THE HEROES 


nor lawless men. We come not to plunder and to ravage, or 
carry away slaves from your land; but my uncle, the son of 
Poseidon, Pelias the Minuan king, he it is who has sent me on 
a quest to bring home the golden fleece. And these too, my 
bold comrades, they are no nameless men ; for some are the sons 
of Immortals, and some of heroes far renowned. And we too 
never tire in battle, and know well how to give blows and to 
take : yet we wish to be guests at your table ; it will be better 
so for both.” 

Then Aietes’ rage rushed up like a whirlwind, and his eyes 
flashed fire as he heard; but he crushed his anger down in his 
breast, and spoke mildly a cunning speech, — 

“ If you will fight for the fleece with my Colchians, then many 
a man must die. But do you indeed expect to win from me the 
fleece in fight ? So few you are that if you be worsted I can load 
your ship with your corpses. But if you will be ruled by me, 
you will find it better far to choose the best man among you, and 
let him fulfil the labours which I demand. Then I will give him 
the golden fleece for a prize and a glory to you all.” 

So saying, he turned his horses and drove back in silence to the 
town. And the Minuai sat silent with sorrow, and longed for 
Heracles and his strength ; for there was no facing the thousands 
of the Colchians and the fearful chance of war. 

But Chalciope, Phrixus’ widow, went weeping to the town ; 
for she remembered her Minuan husband, and all the pleasures 
of her youth, while she watched the fair faces of his kinsmen, 
and their long locks of golden hair. And she whispered to 

94 


THE ARGONAUTS 


Medeia her sister, “Why should all these brave men die? why 
does not my father give them up the fleece, that my husband’s 
spirit may have rest?” 

And Medeia’s heart pitied the heroes, and Jason most of all; 
and she answered, “Our father is stern and terrible, and who 
can win the golden fleece?” But Chalciope said, “These men 
are not like our men ; there is nothing which they cannot dare 
nor do.” 

And Medeia thought of Jason and his brave countenance, and 
said, “ If there was one among them who knew no fear, I could 
show him how to win the fleece.” 

So in the dusk of evening they went down to the river-side, 
Chalciope and Medeia the witch-maiden, and Argus, Phrixus’ son. 
And Argus the boy crept forward, among the beds of reeds, till 
he came where the heroes were sleeping, on the thwarts of the 
ship, beneath the bank, while Jason kept ward on shore, and 
leant upon his lance full of thought. And the boy came to 
Jason, and said, — 

“I am the son of Phrixus, your cousin; and Chalciope my 
mother waits for you, to talk about the golden fleece.” 

Then Jason went boldly with the boy, and found the two 
princesses standing; and when Chalciope saw him she wept, and 
took his hands, and cried, — 

“O cousin of my beloved, go home before you die! ” 

“ It would be base to go home now, fair princess, and to have 
sailed all these seas in vain.” Then both the princesses besought 
him; but Jason said, “It is too late.” 

95 


THE HEROES 


“But you know not,” said Medeia, “what he must do who 
would win the fleece. He must tame the two brazen-footed bulls, 
who breathe devouring flame; and with them he must plough 
ere nightfall four acres in the field of Ares ; and he must sow 
them with serpents’ teeth, of which each tooth springs up into an 
armed man. Then he must fight with all those warriors ; and 
little will it profit him to conquer them, for the fleece is guarded 
by a serpent, more huge than any mountain pine; and over his 
body you must step if you would reach the golden fleece.” 

Then Jason laughed bitterly. “Unjustly is that fleece kept 
here, and by an unjust and lawless king ; and unjustly shall I die 
in my youth, for I will attempt it ere another sun be set.” 

Then Medeia trembled, and said: “No mortal man can reach 
that fleece unless I guide him through. For round it, beyond 
the river, is a wall full nine ells high, with lofty towers and 
buttresses, and mighty gates of threefold brass; and over the 
gates the wall is arched, with golden battlements above. And 
over the gateway sits Brimo, the wild witch-huntress of the 
woods, brandishing a pine-torch in her hands, while her mad 
hounds howl around. No man dare meet her or look on her, 
but only I her priestess, and she watches far and wide lest any 
stranger should come near.” 

“No wall so high but it may be climbed at last, and no wood 
so thick but it may be crawled through ; no serpent so wary but 
he may be charmed, or witch-queen so fierce but spells may 
soothe her ; and I may yet win the golden fleece, if a wise 
maiden help bold men.” 


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Both the princesses besought him 

















































* 






























































































































THE ARGONAUTS 


And he looked at Medeia cunningly, and held her with his 
glittering eye, till she blushed and trembled, and said, — 

“Who can face the fire of the bull’s breath, and fight ten 
thousand armed men ? ” 

“He whom you help,” said Jason, flattering her, “for your 
fame is spread over all the earth. Are you not the queen of 
all enchantresses, wiser even than your sister Circe, in her fairy 
island in the West?” 

“Would that I were with my sister Circe in her fairy island 
in the West, far away from sore temptation and thoughts which 
tear the heart ! But if it must be so — for why should you die ? — 
I have an ointment here ; I made it from the magic ice-flower 
which sprang from Prometheus’ wound, above the clouds on 
Caucasus, in the dreary fields of snow. Anoint yourself with 
that, and you shall have in you seven men’s strength; and anoint 
your shield with it, and neither fire nor sword can harm you. 
But what you begin you must end before sunset, for its virtue 
lasts only one day. And anoint your helmet with it before you 
sow the serpents’ teeth; and when the sons of earth spring up, 
cast your helmet among their ranks, and the deadly crop of the 
War-god’s field will mow itself, and perish.” 

Then Jason fell on his knees before her, and thanked her, and 
kissed her hands; and she gave him the vase of ointment, and 
fled trembling through the reeds. And Jason told his comrades 
what had happened, and showed them the box of ointment ; and 
all rejoiced but Idas, and he grew mad with envy. 

And at sunrise Jason went and bathed, and anointed himself 

97 


7 


THE HEROES 


from head to foot, and his shield, and his helmet, and his weapons, 
and bade his comrades try the spell. So they tried to bend his 
lance, but it stood like an iron bar; and Idas in spite hewed at 
it with his sword, but the blade flew to splinters in his face. 
Then they hurled their lances at his shield, but the spear-points 
turned like lead; and Caineus tried to throw him, but he never 
stirred a foot; and Polydeuces struck him with his fist a blow 
which would have killed an ox, but Jason only smiled, and the 
heroes danced about him with delight; and he leapt, and ran, 
and shouted in the joy of that enormous strength, till the sun 
rose, and it was time to go and to claim Aietes’ promise. 

So he sent up Telamon and Aithalides to tell Aietes that he 
was ready for the fight; and they went up among the marble 
walls, and beneath the roofs of gold, and stood in Aietes’ hall, 
while he grew pale with rage. 

“ Fulfil your promise to us, child of the blazing Sun. Give 
us the serpents’ teeth, and let loose the fiery bulls ; for we have 
found a champion among us who can win the golden fleece.” 

And Aietes bit his lips, for he fancied that they had fled away 
by night: but he could not go back from his promise; so he 
gave them the serpents’ teeth. 

Then he called for his chariot and his horses, and sent heralds 
through all the town ; and all the people went out with him to 
the dreadful War-god’s field. 

And there Aietes sat upon his throne, with his warriors on 
each hand, thousands and tens of thousands, clothed from head 
to foot in steel chain-mail. And the people and the women 

98 


THE ARGONAUTS 


crowded to every window and bank and wall; while the Minuai 
stood together, a mere handful in the midst of that great host. 

And Chalciope was there, and Argus, trembling, and Medeia, 
wrapped closely in her veil; but Aietes did not know that she 
was muttering cunning spells between her lips. 

Then Jason cried, “ Fulfil your promise, and let your fiery 
bulls come forth.” 

Then Aietes bade open the gates, and the magic bulls leapt out. 
Their brazen hoofs rang upon the ground, and their nostrils sent 
out sheets of flame, as they rushed with lowered heads upon 
Jason; but he never flinched a step. The flame of their breath 
swept round him, but it singed not a hair of his head ; and the 
bulls stopped short and trembled when Medeia began her spell. 

Then Jason sprang upon the nearest and seized him by the 
horn; and up and down they wrestled, till the bull fell grovel- 
ling on his knees ; for the heart of the brute died within him, 
and his mighty limbs were loosed, beneath the steadfast eye of 
that dark witch-maiden and the magic whisper of her lips. 

So both the bulls were tamed and yoked; and Jason bound 
them to the plough, and goaded them onward with his lance till 
he had ploughed the sacred field. 

And all the Minuai shouted ; but Aietes bit his lips with rage, 
for the half of Jason's work was over, and the sun was yet high 
in heaven. 

Then he took the serpents' teeth and sowed them, and waited 
what would befall. But Medeia looked at him and at his helmet, 
lest he should forget the lesson she had taught. 

99 


THE HEROES 


And every furrow heaved and bubbled, and out of every clod 
arose a man. Out of the earth they rose by thousands, each clad 
from head to foot in steel, and drew their swords and rushed on 
Jason, where he stood in the midst alone. 

Then the Minuai grew pale with fear for him ; but Aietes 
laughed a bitter laugh. “ See ! if I had not warriors enough already 
round me, I could call them out of the bosom of the earth.” 

But Jason snatched off his helmet, and hurled it into the 
thickest of the throng. And blind madness came upon them, 
suspicion, hate, and fear ; and one cried to his fellow, “ Thou 
didst strike me!” and another, “Thou art Jason; thou shalt 
die! ” So fury seized those earth-born phantoms, and each 
turned his hand against the rest ; and they fought and were 
never weary, till they all lay dead upon the ground. Then the 
magic furrows opened, and the kind earth took them home into 
her breast ; and the grass grew up all green again above them, 
and Jason’s work was done. 

Then the Minuai rose and shouted, till Prometheus heard 
them from his crag. And Jason cried, “ Lead me to the fleece 
this moment, before the sun goes down.” 

But Aietes thought, “He has conquered the bulls, and sown 
and reaped the deadly crop. Who is this who is proof against 
all magic ? He may kill the serpent yet.” So he delayed, and 
sat taking counsel with his princes till the sun went down and 
all was dark. Then he bade a herald cry, “Every man to his 
home for to-night. To-morrow we will meet these heroes, and 
speak about the golden fleece.” 


ioo 


THE ARGONAUTS 


Then he turned and looked at Medeia. “ This is your doing, 
false witch-maid ! You have helped these yellow-haired strangers, 
and brought shame upon your father and y ourself !” 

Medeia shrank and trembled, and her face grew pale with fear ; 
and Aietes knew that she was guilty, and whispered, “ If they 
win the fleece, you die ! ” 

But the Minuai marched toward their ship, growling like 
lions cheated of their prey ; for they saw that Aietes meant to 
mock them, and to cheat them out of all their toil. And Oileus 
said, “ Let us go to the grove together, and take the fleece by 
force.” 

And Idas the rash cried, “ Let us draw lots who shall go in 
first ; for, while the dragon is devouring one, the rest can slay 
him and carry off the fleece in peace.” But Jason held them 
back, though he praised them ; for he hoped for Medeia’s help. 

And after awhile Medeia came trembling, and wept a long 
while before she spoke. And at last, — 

“ My end is come, and I must die ; for my father has found 
out that I have helped you. You he would kill if he dared; 
but he will not harm you, because you have been his guests. 
Go, then, go, and remember poor Medeia when you are far 
away across the sea.” But all the heroes cried, — 

“ If you die, we die with you ; for without you we cannot 
win the fleece, and home we will not go without it, but fall here 
fighting to the last man.” 

“You need not die,” said Jason. “Flee home with us across 
the sea. Show us first how to win the fleece ; for you can 


IOI 


THE HEROES 


do it. Why else are you the priestess of the grove? Show us 
but how to win the fleece, and come with us, and you shall be 
my queen, and rule over the rich princes of the Minuai, in Iolcos 
by the sea.” 

And all the heroes pressed round, and vowed to her that she 
should be their queen. 

Medeia wept, and shuddered, and hid her face in her hands; 
for her heart yearned after her sisters and her playfellows, and 
the home where she was brought up as a child. But at last she 
looked up at Jason, and spoke between her sobs, — 

“ Must I leave my home and my people to wander with 
strangers across the sea ? The lot is cast, and I must endure it. 
I will show you how to win the golden fleece. Bring up your 
ship to the wood-side, and moor her there against the bank; 
and let Jason come up at midnight, and one brave comrade with 
him, and meet me beneath the wall.” 

Then all the heroes cried together, “I will go!” “and I!” 
“ and I ! ” And Idas the rash grew mad with envy ; for he 
longed to be foremost in all things. 

But Medeia calmed them, and said, “Orpheus shall go with 
Jason, and bring his magic harp ; for I hear of him that he is 
the king of all minstrels, and can charm all things on earth.” 

And Orpheus laughed for joy, and clapped his hands, because 
the choice had fallen on him ; for in those days poets and singers 
were as bold warriors as the best. 

So at midnight they went up the bank, and found Medeia ; and 
beside came Absyrtus, her young brother, leading a yearling lamb. 


102 


THE ARGONAUTS 


Then Medeia brought them to a thicket beside the War-god’s 
gate; and there she bade Jason dig a ditch, and kill the lamb, 
and leave it there, and strew on it magic herbs and honey from 
the honeycomb. 

Then sprang up through the earth, with the red fire flashing 
before her, Brimo the wild witch-huntress, while her mad hounds 
howled around. She had one head like a horse’s, and another 
like a ravening hound’s, and another like a hissing snake’s, and 
a sword in either hand. And she leapt into the ditch with 
her hounds, and they ate and drank their fill, while Jason and 
Orpheus trembled, and Medeia hid her eyes. And at last the 
witch-queen vanished, and fled with her hounds into the woods; 
and the bars of the gates fell down, and the brazen doors flew 
wide, and Medeia and the heroes ran forward and hurried through 
the poison wood, among the dark stems of the mighty beeches, 
guided by the gleam of the golden fleece, until they saw it hang- 
ing on one vast tree in the midst. And Jason would have sprung 
to seize it; but Medeia held him back, and pointed, shuddering, 
to the tree-foot, where the mighty serpent lay, coiled in and out 
among the roots, with a body like a mountain pine. His coils 
stretched many a fathom, spangled with bronze and gold; and 
half of him they could see, but no more, for the rest lay in the 
darkness far beyond. 

And when he saw them coming he lifted up his head, and 
watched them with his small bright eyes, and flashed his forked 
tongue, and roared like the fire among the woodlands, till the 
forest tossed and groaned. For his cries shook the trees from 

103 


THE HEROES 


leaf to root, and swept over the long reaches of the river, and 
over Aietes’ hall, and woke the sleepers in the city, till mothers 
clasped their children in their fear. 

But Medeia called gently to him, and he stretched out his 
long spotted neck, and licked her hand, and looked up in her 
face, as if to ask for food. Then she made a sign to Orpheus, 
and he began his magic song. 

And as he sung, the forest grew calm again, and the leaves 
on every tree hung still; and the serpent’s head sank down, 
and his brazen coils grew limp, and his glittering eyes closed 
lazily, till he breathed as gently as a child, while Orpheus 
called to pleasant Slumber, who gives peace to men, and beasts, 
and waves. 

Then Jason leapt forward warily, and stept across that mighty 
snake, and tore the fleece from off the tree-trunk; and the four 
rushed down the garden, to the bank where the Argo lay. 

There was a silence for a moment, while Jason held the golden 
fleece on high. Then he cried, “ Go now, good Argo , swift and 
steady, if ever you would see Pelion more.” 

And she went, as the heroes drove her, grim and silent all, 
with muffled oars, till the pine-wood bent like willow in their 
hands, and stout Argo groaned beneath their strokes. 

On and on, beneath the dewy darkness, they fled swiftly down 
the swirling stream; underneath black walls, and temples, and 
the castles of the princes of the East; past sluice-mouths, and 
fragrant gardens, and groves of all strange fruits; past marshes 
where fat kine lay sleeping, and long beds of whispering reeds ; 

104 



Then Jason leapt forward warily. 


















THE ARGONAUTS 


till they heard the merry music of the surge upon the bar, as it 
tumbled in the moonlight all alone. 

Into the surge they rushed, and Argo leapt the breakers like 
a horse ; for she knew the time was come to show her mettle, 
and win honour for the heroes and herself. 

Into the surge they rushed, and Argo leapt the breakers like 
a horse, till the heroes stopped all panting, each man upon his 
oar, as she slid into the still broad sea. 

Then Orpheus took his harp, and sang a pasan, till the heroes’ 
hearts rose high again ; and they rowed on stoutly and steadfastly, 
away into the darkness of the West. 



S O they fled away in haste to the westward ; but Aietes manned 
his fleet and followed them. And Lynceus the quick-eyed 
saw him coming, while he was still many a mile away, and cried, 
“ I see a hundred ships, like a flock of white swans, far in the 
east.” And at that they rowed hard, like heroes; but the ships 
came nearer every hour. 

Then Medeia, the dark witch-maiden, laid a cruel and a cun- 
ning plot; for she killed Absyrtus her young brother, and cast 
him into the sea, and said, “Ere my father can take up his corpse 
and bury it, he must wait long, and be left far behind.” 

And all the heroes shuddered, and looked one at the other for 
shame ; yet they did not punish that dark witch-woman, because 
she had won for them the golden fleece. 

And when Aietes came to the place he saw the floating corpse ; 
and he stopped a long while, and bewailed his son, and took him 
up, and went home. But he sent on his sailors toward the 
westward, and bound them by a mighty curse — “ Bring back 

io 6 


THE ARGONAUTS 


to me that dark witch-woman, that she may die a dreadful death. 
But if you return without her, you shall die by the same death 
yourselves.” 

So the Argonauts escaped for that time : but Father Zeus saw 
that foul crime; and out of the heavens he sent a storm, and 
swept the ship far from her course. Day after day the storm 
drove her, amid foam and blinding mist, till they knew no longer 
where they were, for the sun was blotted from the skies. And 
at last the ship struck on a shoal, amid low isles of mud and 
sand, and the waves rolled over her and through her, and the 
heroes lost all hope of life. 

Then Jason cried to Hera: “Fair queen, who hast befriended 
us till now, why hast thou left us in our misery, to die here 
among unknown seas? It is hard to lose the honour which we 
have won with such toil and danger, and hard never to see Hellas 
again, and the pleasant bay of Pagasai.” 

Then out and spoke the magic bough which stood upon the 
Argo's beak, “Because Father Zeus is angry, all this has fallen 
on you; for a cruel crime has been done on board, and the sacred 
ship is foul with blood.” 

At that some of the heroes cried : “ Medeia is the murderess. 
Let the witch-woman bear her sin, and die!” And they seized 
Medeia, to hurl her into the sea, and atone for the young boy’s 
death ; but the magic bough spoke again : “ Let her live till her 
crimes are full. Vengeance waits for her, slow and sure; but she 
must live, for you need her still. She must show you the way 
to her sister Circe, who lives among the islands of the West. To 

107 


THE HEROES 

her you must sail, a weary way, and she shall cleanse you from 
your guilt. ,, 

Then all the heroes wept aloud when they heard the sentence 
of the oak; for they knew that a dark journey lay before them, 
and years of bitter toil. And some upbraided the dark witch- 
woman, and some said, “Nay, we are her debtors still; without 
her we should never have won the fleece.” But most of them 
bit their lips in silence, for they feared the witch’s spells. 

And now the sea grew calmer, and the sun shone out once 
more, and the heroes thrust the ship off the sand-bank, and rowed 
forward on their weary course under the guiding of the dark 
witch-maiden, into the wastes of the unknown sea. 

Whither they went I cannot tell, nor how they came to Circe’s 
isle. Some say that they went to the westward, and up the Ister 1 
stream, and so came into the Adriatic, dragging their ship over 
the snowy Alps. And others say that they went southward, into 
the Red Indian Sea, and past the sunny lands where spices grow, 
round ^Ethiopia toward the West; and that at last they came to 
Libya, and dragged their ship across the burning sands, and over 
the hills into the Syrtes, where the flats and quicksands spread 
for many a mile, between rich Cyrene and the Lotus-eaters’ 
shore. But all these are but dreams and fables, and dim hints 
of unknown lands. 

But all say that they came to a place where they had to drag 
their ship across the land nine days with ropes and rollers, till 
they came into an unknown sea. And the best of all the old 
1 The Danube. 

108 


THE ARGONAUTS 


songs tells us how they went away toward the North, till they 
came to the slope of Caucasus, where it sinks into the sea; and 
to the narrow Cimmerian Bosphorus , 1 where the Titan swam 
across upon the bull ; and thence into the lazy waters of the 
still Masotid lake . 2 And thence they went northward ever, up 
the Tanais, which we call Don, past the Geloni and Sauromatai, 
and many a wandering shepherd-tribe, and the one-eyed Arimaspi, 
of whom old Greek poets tell, who steal the gold from the Griffins, 
in the cold Riphaian hills . 3 

And they passed the Scythian archers, and the Tauri who 
eat men, and the wandering Hyperboreai, who feed their flocks 
beneath the pole-star, until they came into the northern ocean, 
the dull dead Cronian Sea . 4 And there Argo would move on no 
longer; and each man clasped his elbow, and leaned his head upon 
his hand, heart-broken with toil and hunger, and gave himself 
up to death. But brave Ancaios the helmsman cheered up their 
hearts once more, and bade them leap on land, and haul the ship 
with ropes and rollers for many a weary day, whether over land, 
or mud, or ice, I know not, for the song is mixed and broken 
like a dream. And it says next, how they came to the rich nation 
of the famous long-lived men; and to the coast of the Cimme- 
rians, who never saw the sun, buried deep in the glens of the 
snow mountains ; and to the fair land of Hermione, where dwelt 
the most righteous of all nations ; and to the gates of the world 
below, and to the dwelling-place of dreams. 

1 Between the Crimaea and Circassia. 

2 The Sea of Azov. 

IO9 


3 The Ural Mountains ? 

4 The Baltic ? 


THE HEROES 


And at last Ancaios shouted: “Endure a little while, brave 
friends, the worst is surely past ; for I can see the pure west wind 
ruffle the water, and hear the roar of ocean on the sands. So raise 
up the mast, and set the sail, and face what comes like men.” 

Then out spoke the magic bough : “ Ah, would that I had 
perished long ago, and been whelmed by the dread blue rocks, 
beneath the fierce swell of the Euxine ! Better so, than to wander 
for ever, disgraced by the guilt of my princes ; for the blood of 
Absyrtus still tracks me, and woe follows hard upon woe. And 
now some dark horror will clutch me, if I come near the Isle 
of Ierne. 1 Unless you will cling to the land, and sail southward 
and southward for ever, I shall wander beyond the Atlantic, to 
the ocean which has no shore. ,, 

Then they blest the magic bough, and sailed southward along 
the land. But ere they could pass Ierne, the land of mists and 
storms, the wild wind came down, dark and roaring, and caught 
the sail, and strained the ropes. And away they drove twelve 
nights, on the wide wild western sea, through the foam, and 
over the rollers, while they saw neither sun nor stars. And they 
cried again: “We shall perish, for we know not where we are. 
We are lost in the dreary damp darkness, and cannot tell north 
from south.” 

But Lynceus the long-sighted called gaily from the bows, 
“Take heart again, brave sailors; for I see a pine-clad isle, and 
the halls of the kind Earth-mother, with a crown of clouds 
around them.” 

1 Britain? 


I IO 


THE ARGONAUTS 


But Orpheus said, “Turn from them, for no living man can 
land there: there is no harbour on the coast, but steep-walled 
cliffs all round/’ 

So Ancaios turned the ship away ; and for three days more they 
sailed on, till they came to Aiaia, Circe’s home, and the fairy 
island of the West . 1 

And there Jason bid them land, and seek about for any sign 
of living man. And as they went inland Circe met them, com- 
ing down toward the ship; and they trembled when they saw her, 
for her hair, and face, and robes shone like flame. 

And she came and looked at Medeia ; and Medeia hid her face 
beneath her veil. 

And Circe cried: “Ah, wretched girl, have you forgotten all 
your sins, that you come hither to my island, where the flowers 
bloom all the year round? Where is your aged father, and the 
brother whom you killed? Little do I expect you to return in 
safety with these strangers whom you love. I will send you food 
and wine; but your ship must not stay here, for it is foul with 
sin, and foul with sin its crew.” 

And the heroes prayed her, but in vain, and cried, “Cleanse 
us from our guilt!” But she sent them away, and said, “Go on 
to Malea, and there you may be cleansed, and return home.” 

Then a fair wind rose, and they sailed eastward, by Tartessus 
on the Iberian shore, till they came to the Pillars of Hercules, 
and the Mediterranean Sea. And thence they sailed on through 
the deeps of Sardinia, and past the Ausonian islands, and the capes 

1 The Azores ? 


1 1 1 


THE HEROES 


of the Tyrrhenian shore, till they came to a flowery island, 
upon a still bright summer’s eve. And as they neared it, slowly 
and wearily, they heard sweet songs upon the shore. But when 
Medeia heard it, she started, and cried, “ Beware, all heroes, for 
these are the rocks of the Sirens. You must pass close by them, 
for there is no other channel; but those who listen to that song 
are lost.” 

Then Orpheus spoke, the king of all minstrels : “ Let them 
match their song against mine. I have charmed stones, and trees, 
and dragons, how much more the hearts of men ! ” So he caught 
up his lyre, and stood upon the poop, and began his magic song. 

And now they could see the Sirens on Anthemousa, the flow r ery 
isle; three fair maidens sitting on the beach, beneath a red rock 
in the setting sun, among beds of crimson poppies and golden 
asphodel. Slowly they sung and sleepily, with silver voices, mild 
and clear, which stole over the golden waters, and into the hearts 
of all the heroes, in spite of Orpheus’ song. 

And all things stayed around and listened ; the gulls sat in white 
lines along the rocks ; on the beach great seals lay basking, and 
kept time with lazy heads; while silver shoals of fish came up to 
hearken, and whispered as they broke the shining calm. The 
Wind overhead hushed his whistling, as he shepherded his clouds 
toward the west; and the clouds stood in mid blue, and listened 
dreaming, like a flock of golden sheep. 

And as the heroes listened, the oars fell from their hands, and 
their heads drooped on their breasts, and they closed their heavy 
eyes; and they dreamed of bright still gardens, and of slumbers 


1 12 



Slowly they sung and sleepily, with silver voices. 




THE ARGONAUTS 


under murmuring pines, till all their toil seemed foolishness, and 
they thought of their renown no more. 

Then one lifted his head suddenly, and cried, “What use in 
wandering for ever? Let us stay here and rest awhile.’’ And 
another, “Let us row to the shore, and hear the words they 
sing.” And another, “I care not for the words, but for the 
music. They shall sing me to sleep, that I may rest.” 

And Butes, the son of Pandion, the fairest of all mortal men, 
leapt out and swam toward the shore, crying, “I come, I come, 
fair maidens, to live and die here, listening to your song.” 

Then Medeia clapped her hands together, and cried, “Sing 
louder, Orpheus, sing a bolder strain ; wake up these hapless slug- 
gards, or none of them will see the land of Hellas more.” 

Then Orpheus lifted his harp, and crashed his cunning hand 
across the strings; and his music and his voice rose like a trumpet 
through the still evening air; into the air it rushed like thunder, 
till the rocks rang and the sea; and into their souls it rushed like 
wine, till all hearts beat fast within their breasts. 

And he sung the song of Perseus, how the Gods led him over 
land and sea, and how he slew the loathly Gorgon, and won him- 
self a peerless bride; and how he sits now with the Gods upon 
Olympus, a shining star in the sky, immortal with his immortal 
bride, and honoured by all men below. 

So Orpheus sang, and the Sirens, answering each other across 
the golden sea, till Orpheus’ voice drowned the Sirens’, and the 
heroes caught their oars again. 

And they cried : “We will be men like Perseus, and we will 
8 1 13 


THE HEROES 


dare and suffer to the last. Sing us his song again, brave Orpheus, 
that we may forget the Sirens and their spell/’ 

And as Orpheus sang, they dashed their oars into the sea, and 
kept time to his music, as they fled fast away ; and the Sirens’ voices 
died behind them, in the hissing of the foam along their wake. 

But Butes swam to the shore, and knelt down before the 
Sirens, and cried, “ Sing on ! sing on ! ” But he could say no 
more, for a charmed sleep came over him, and a pleasant hum- 
ming in his ears ; and he sank all along upon the pebbles, and 
forgot all heaven and earth, and never looked at that sad beach 
around him, all strewn with the bones of men. 

Then slowly rose up those three fair sisters, with a cruel smile 
upon their lips; and slowly they crept down towards him, like 
leopards who creep upon their prey; and their hands were like 
the talons of eagles as they stept across the bones of their victims 
to enjoy their cruel feast. 

But fairest Aphrodite saw him from the highest Idalian peak, 
and she pitied his youth and his beauty, and leapt up from her 
golden throne ; and like a falling star she cleft the sky, and left 
a trail of glittering light, till she stooped to the Isle of the Sirens, 
and snatched their prey from their claws. And she lifted Butes 
as he lay sleeping, and wrapt him in a golden mist; and she 
bore him to the peak of Lilybasum, and he slept there many 
a pleasant year. 

But when the Sirens saw that they were conquered, they 
shrieked for envy and rage, and leapt from the beach into the 
sea, and were changed into rocks until this day 

”4 


THE ARGONAUTS 

Then they came to the straits by Lilybasum, and saw Sicily, 
the three-cornered island, under which Enceladus the giant lies 
groaning day and night, and when he turns the earth quakes, 
and his breath bursts out in roaring flames from the highest 
cone of iTtna, above the chestnut woods. And there Charybdis 
caught them in its fearful coils of wave, and rolled mast-high 
about them, and spun them round and round; and they 
could go neither back nor forward, while the whirlpool sucked 
them in. 

And while they struggled they saw near them, on the other 
side the strait, a rock stand in the water, with its peak wrapt 
round in clouds — a rock which no man could climb, though 
he had twenty hands and feet, for the stone was smooth and 
slippery, as if polished by man’s hand; and half-way up a misty 
cave looked out toward the west. 

And when Orpheus saw it he groaned, and struck his hands 
together. And “ Little will it help us,” he cried, “to escape 
the jaws of the whirlpool; for in that cave lives Scylla, the sea- 
hag with a young whelp’s voice; my mother warned me of her 
ere we sailed away from Hellas; she has six heads, and six long 
necks, and hides in that dark cleft. And from her cave she 
fishes for all things which pass by, — for sharks, and seals, and 
dolphins, and all the herds of Amphitrite. And never ship’s 
crew boasted that they came safe by her rock, for she bends her 
long necks down to them, and every mouth takes up a man. 
And who will help us now? For Hera and Zeus hate us, and 
our ship is foul with guilt ; so we must die, whatever befalls.” 

IX 5 


THE HEROES 


Then out of the depths came Thetis, Peleus’ silver-footed 
bride, for love of her gallant husband, and all her nymphs around 
her; and they played like snow-white dolphins, diving on from 
wave to wave, before the ship, and in her wake, and beside her, 
as dolphins play. And they caught the ship, and guided her, 
and passed her on from hand to hand, and tossed her through 
the billows, as maidens toss the ball. And when Scylla stooped 
to seize her, they struck back her ravening heads, and foul Scylla 
whined, as a whelp whines, at the touch of their gentle hands. 
But she shrank into her cave affrighted — for all bad things shrink 
from good — and Argo leapt safe past her, while a fair breeze 
rose behind. Then Thetis and her nymphs sank down to their 
coral caves beneath the sea, and their gardens of green and purple, 
while live flowers bloom all the year round; while the heroes 
went on rejoicing, yet dreading what might come next. 

After that they rowed on steadily for many a weary day, till 
they saw a long high island, and beyond it a mountain land. 
And they searched till they found a harbour, and there rowed 
boldly in. But after awhile they stopped, and wondered, for 
there stood a great city on the shore, and temples and walls 
and gardens, and castles high in air upon the cliffs. And on 
either side they saw a harbour, with a narrow mouth, but wide 
within; and black ships without number, high and dry upon 
the shore. 

Then Ancaios, the wise helmsman, spoke : “ What new wonder 
is this? I know all isles, and harbours, and the windings of all 
seas ; and this should be Cordyra, where a few wild goat-herds 

ii 6 



The Argonauts and the sea nymphs , 




























* 


* 



































THE ARGONAUTS 


dwell. But whence come these new harbours and vast works 
of polished stone ?” 

But Jason said: “ They can be no savage people. We will go 
in and take our chance.” 

So they rowed into the harbour, among a thousand black- 
bea :ed ships, each larger far than Argo , toward a quay of 
polished stone. And they wondered at that mighty city, with 
its roofs of burnished brass, and long and lofty walls of marble, 
with strong palisades above. And the quays were full of people, 
merchants and mariners, and slaves, going to and fro with mer- 
chandise among the crowd of ships. And the heroes’ hearts were 
humbled, and they looked at each other and said, “We thought 
ourselves a gallant crew when we sailed from Iolcos by the sea ; 
but how small we look before this city, like an ant before a 
hive of bees.” 

Then the sailors hailed them roughly from the quay : “ What 
men are you? — we want no strangers here, nor pirates. We 
keep our business to ourselves.” 

But Jason answered gently, with many a flattering word, and 
praised their city and their harbour, and their fleet of gallant 
ships : “ Surely you are the children of Poseidon, and the 

masters of the sea; and we are but poor wandering mariners, 
worn out with thirst and toil. Give us but food and water, 
and we will go on our voyage in peace.” 

Then the sailors laughed, and answered: “ Stranger, you are 
no fool; you talk like an honest man, and you shall find us 
honest too. We are the children of Poseidon, and the masters 


THE HEROES 

of the sea; but come ashore to us, and you shall have the best 
that we can give.” 

So they limped ashore, all stiff and weary, with long ragged 
beards and sunburnt cheeks, and garments torn and weather- 
stained, and weapons rusted with the spray, while the sailors 
laughed at them (for they were rough-tongued, though their 
hearts were frank and kind). And one said, “ These fellows 
are but raw sailors ; they look as if they had been sea-sick all 
the day.” And another, “ Their legs have grown crooked with 
much rowing, till they waddle in their walk like ducks.” 

At that Idas the rash would have struck them ; but Jason 
held him back, till one of the merchant kings spoke to them, 
a tall and stately man. 

“ Do not be angry, strangers ; the sailor boys must have their 
jest. But we will treat you justly and kindly, for strangers and 
poor men come from God; and you seem no common sailors 
by your strength, and height, and weapons. Come up with 
me to the palace of Alcinous, the rich sea-going king, and we 
will feast you well and heartily; and after that you shall tell 
us your name.” 

But Medeia hung back, and trembled, and whispered in 
Jason’s ear, “We are betrayed, and are going to our ruin, for 
I see my countrymen among the crowd; dark-eyed Colchi in 
steel mail-shirts, such as they wear in my father’s land.” 

“It is too late to turn,” said Jason. And he spoke to the 
merchant king, “What country is this, good sir; and what is 
this new-built town?” 

1 1 8 


THE ARGONAUTS 


“This is the land of the Phaeaces, beloved by all the Im- 
mortals; for they come hither and feast like friends with us, 
and sit by our side in the hall. Hither we came from Liburnia 
to escape the unrighteous Cyclopes; for they robbed us, peace- 
ful merchants, of our hard-earned wares and wealth. So Nau- 
sithous, the son of Poseidon, brought us hither, and died in 
peace; and now his son Alcinous rules us, and Arete the wisest 
of queens. ,, 

So they went up across the square, and wondered still more 
as they went ; for along the quays lay in order great cables, and 
yards, and masts, before the fair temple of Poseidon, the blue- 
haired king of the seas. And round the square worked the 
shipwrights, as many in number as ants, twining ropes, and 
hewing timber, and smoothing long yards and oars. And the 
Minuai went on in silence through clean white marble streets, 
till they came to the hall of Alcinous, and they wondered then 
still more. For the lofty palace shone aloft in the sun, with 
walls of plated brass, from the threshold to the innermost 
chamber, and the doors were of silver and gold. And on each 
side of the doorway sat living dogs of gold, who never grew old 
or died, so well Hephaistos had made them in his forges in 
smoking Lemnos, and gave them to Alcinous to guard his gates 
by night. And within, against the walls, stood thrones on either 
side, down the whole length of the hall, strewn with rich glossy 
shawls; and on them the merchant kings of those crafty sea- 
roving Phasaces sat eating and drinking in pride, and feasting 
there all the year round. And boys of molten gold stood each 

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THE HEROES 


on a polished altar, and held torches in their hands, to give light 
all night to the guests. And round the house sat fifty maid- 
servants, some grinding the meal in the mill, some turning the 
spindle, some weaving at the loom, while their hands twinkled 
as they passed the shuttle, like quivering aspen leaves. 

And outside before the palace a great garden was walled 
round, filled full of stately fruit-trees, grey olives and sweet figs, 
and pomegranates, pears, and apples, which bore the whole year 
round. For the rich south-west wind fed them, till pear grew 
ripe on pear, fig on fig, and grape on grape, all the winter and 
the spring. And at the further end gay flower-beds bloomed 
through all seasons of the year ; and two fair fountains rose, 
and ran, one through the garden grounds, and one beneath the 
palace gate, to water all the town. Such noble gifts the heavens 
had given to Alcinous the wise. 

So they went in, and saw him sitting, like Poseidon, on his 
throne, with his golden sceptre by him, in garments stiff with 
gold, and in his hand a sculptured goblet, as he pledged the 
merchant kings ; and beside him stood Arete, his wise and lovely 
queen, and leaned against a pillar as she spun her golden threads. 

Then Alcinous rose, and welcomed them, and bade them sit 
and eat; and the servants brought them tables, and bread, and 
meat, and wine. 

But Medeia went on trembling toward Arete the fair queen, 
and fell at her knees, and clasped them, and cried, weeping, as 
she knelt, — 

“I am your guest, fair q een, and I entreat you by Zeus, from 


120 


THE ARGONAUTS 


whom prayers come. Do not send me back to my father to 
die some dreadful death ; but let me go my way, and bear my 
burden. Have I not had enough of punishment and shame ?” 

“ Who are you, strange maiden ? and what is the meaning of 
your prayer ?” 

“ I am Medeia, daughter of Aietes, and I saw my countrymen 
here to-day; and I know that they are come to find me, and 
take me home to die some dreadful death.” 

Then Arete frowned, and said, “Lead this girl in, my maidens; 
and let the kings decide, not I.” 

And Alcinous leapt up from his throne, and cried, “ Speak, 
strangers, who are you ? And who is this maiden ? ” 

“We are the heroes of the Minuai,” said Jason; “and this 
maiden has spoken truth. We are the men who took the 
golden fleece, the men whose fame has run round every shore. 
We came hither out of the ocean, after sorrows such as man never 
saw before. We went out many, and come back few, for many 
a noble comrade have we lost. So let us go, as you should let 
your guests go, in peace ; that the world may say, ‘ Alcinous is 
a just king/ ” 

But Alcinous frowned, and stood deep in thought; and at 
last he spoke, — 

“ Had not the deed been done which is done, I should have 
said this day to myself, ‘ It is an honour to Alcinous, and to his 
children after him, that the far-famed Argonauts are his guests.’ 
But these Colchi are my guests, as you are ; and for this month 
they have waited here with all their fleet, for they have hunted 


I 2 I 


THE HEROES 


all the seas of Hellas, and could not find you, and dared neither 
go farther, nor go home.” 

“ Let them choose out their champions, and we will fight 
them, man for man.” 

“No guests of ours shall fight upon our island, and if you go 
outside they will outnumber you. I will do justice between 
you, for I know and do what is right.” 

Then he turned to his kings, and said : “ This may stand over 
till to-morrow. To-night we will feast our guests, and hear the 
story of all their wanderings, and how they came hither out 
of the ocean.” 

So Alcinous bade the servants take the heroes in, and bathe 
them, and give them clothes. And they were glad when they 
saw the warm water, for it was long since they had bathed. 
And they washed off the sea-salt from their limbs, and anointed 
themselves from head to foot with oil, and combed out their 
golden hair. Then they came back again into the hall, while 
the merchant kings rose up to do them honour. And each 
man said to his neighbour: “No wonder that these men won 
fame. How they stand now like Giants, or Titans, or Im- 
mortals come down from Olympus, though many a winter has 
worn them, and many a fearful storm. What must they have 
been when they sailed from Iolcos, in the bloom of their 
youth, long ago?” 

Then they went out to the garden ; and the merchant princes 
said, “ Heroes, run races with us. Let us see whose feet are 
nimblest.” 


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Who are you, strange maiden? and what is the meaning of your prayer? 







. 































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. 


il 

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THE ARGONAUTS 


“We cannot race against you, for our limbs are stiff from sea ; 
and we have lost our two swift comrades, the sons of the north 
wind. But do not think us cowards : if you wish to try our 
strength, we will shoot, and box, and wrestle, against any men 
on earth.” 

And Alcinous smiled, and answered : “ I believe you, gallant 
guests; with your long limbs and broad shoulders, we could 
never match you here. For we care nothing here for boxing, 
or for shooting with the bow ; but for feasts, and songs, and 
harping, and dancing, and running races, to stretch our limbs 
on shore.” 

So they danced there and ran races, the jolly merchant kings, 
till the night fell, and all went in. 

And then they ate and drank, and comforted their weary 
souls, till Alcinous called a herald, and bade him go and fetch 
the harper. 

The herald went out, and fetched the harper, and led him 
by the hand; and Alcinous cut him a piece of meat, from the 
fattest of the haunch, and sent it to him, and said, “ Sing to us, 
noble harper, and rejoice the heroes’ hearts.” 

So the harper played and sang, while the dancers danced 
strange figures ; and after that the tumblers showed their tricks, 
till the heroes laughed again. 

Then, “Tell me, heroes,” asked Alcinous, “you who have 
sailed the ocean round, and seen the manners of all nations, have 
you seen such dancers as ours here, or heard such music and 
such singing? We hold ours to be the best on earth. 

12 3 


THE HEROES 


“Such dancing we have never seen/’ said Orpheus; “and 
your singer is a happy man, for Phoebus himself must have 
taught him, or else he is the son of a Muse, as I am also, and 
have sung once or twice, though not so well as he. ,, 

“ Sing to us, then, noble stranger,” said Alcinous; “and we 
will give you precious gifts.” 

So Orpheus took his magic harp, and sang to them a stirring 
song of their voyage from Iolcos, and their dangers, and how 
they won the golden fleece ; and of Medeia’s love, and how she 
helped them, and went with them over land and sea ; and of all 
their fearful dangers, from monsters, and rocks, and storms, till 
the heart of Arete was softened, and all the women wept. And 
the merchant kings rose up, each man from off his golden 
throne, and clapped their hands, and shouted, “ Hail to the 
noble Argonauts, who sailed the unknown sea ! ” 

Then he went on, and told their journey over the sluggish 
northern main, and through the shoreless outer ocean, to the 
fairy island of the west ; and of the Sirens, and Scylla, and 
Charybdis, and all the wonders they had seen, till midnight 
passed and the day dawned ; but the kings never thought of 
sleep. Each man sat still and listened, with his chin upon 
his hand. 

And at last, when Orpheus had ended, they all went thought- 
ful out, and the heroes lay down to sleep, beneath the sounding 
porch outside, where Arete had strewn them rugs and carpets, 
in the sweet still summer night. 

But Arete pleaded hard with her husband for Medeia, for her 

124 


THE ARGONAUTS 


heart was softened. And she said : “ The Gods will punish 
her, not we. After all, she is our guest and my suppliant, and 
prayers are the daughters of Zeus. And who, too, dare part 
man and wife, after all they have endured together ?” 

And Alcinous smiled. “ The minstrel’s song has charmed 
you ; but I must remember what is right, for songs cannot alter 
justice; and I must be faithful to my name. Alcinous I am 
called, the man of sturdy sense; and Alcinous I will be.” But 
for all that Arete besought him, until she won him round. 

So next morning he sent a herald, and called the kings into 
the square, and said : “ This is a puzzling matter ; remember 
but one thing. These Minuai live close by us, and we may 
meet them often on the seas ; but Aietes lives afar off, and we 
have only heard his name. Which, then, of the two is it safer 
to offend, — the men near us, or the men far off?” 

The princes laughed, and praised his wisdom; and Alcinous 
called the heroes to the square, and the Colchi also ; and they 
came and stood opposite each other, but Medeia stayed in the 
palace. Then Alcinous spoke, “ Heroes of the Colchi, what 
is your errand about this lady?” 

“To carry her home with us, that she may die a shameful 
death ; but if we return without her, we must die the death she 
should have died.” 

“What say you to this, Jason the Aiolid?” said Alcinous, 
turning to the Minuai. 

“ I say,” said the cunning Jason, “ that they are come here on 
a bootless errand. Do you think that you can make her follow 

125 


THE HEROES 


you, heroes of the Colchi, — her, who knows all spells and 
charms ? She will cast away your ships on quicksands, or call 
down on you Brimo the wild huntress ; or the chains will fall 
from off her wrists, and she will escape in her dragon-car ; or 
if not thus, some other way, for she has a thousand plans and 
wiles. And why return home at all, brave heroes, and face the 
long seas again, and the Bosphorus, and the stormy Euxine, 
and double all your toil? There is many a fair land round 
these coasts, which waits for gallant men like you. Better to 
settle there, and build a city, and let Aietes and Colchis help 
themselves.” 

Then a murmur rose among the Colchi, and some cried, 
“He has spoken well;” and some, “We have had enough of 
roving, we will sail the seas no more!” And the chief said at 
last: “Be it so, then; a plague she has been to us, and a plague 
to the house of her father, and a plague she will be to you. 
Take her, since you are no wiser; and we will sail away toward 
the north.” 

Then Alcinous gave them food, and water, and garments, and 
rich presents of all sorts ; and he gave the same to the Minuai, 
and sent them all away in peace. 

So Jason kept the dark witch-maiden to breed him woe and 
shame ; and the Colchi went northward into the Adriatic, and 
settled, and built towns along the shore. 

Then the heroes rode away to the eastward, to reach Hellas, 
their beloved land; but a storm came down upon them, and 
swept them far away toward the south. And they rowed till 

126 


THE ARGONAUTS 


they were spent with struggling, through the darkness and the 
blinding rain ; but where they were they could not tell, and 
they gave up all hope of life. And at last they touched the 
ground, and when daylight came they waded to the shore; and 
saw nothing round but sand and desolate salt pools, for they had 
come to the quicksands of the Syrtis, and the dreary treeless flats 
which lie between Numidia and Cyrene, on the burning shore 
of Africa. And there they wandered starving for many a weary 
day, ere they could launch their ship again, and gain the open 
sea. And there Canthus was killed, while he was trying to 
drive off sheep, by a stone which a herdsman threw. 

And there too Mopsus died, the seer who knew the voices 
of all birds ; but he could not foretell his own end, for he was 
bitten in the foot by a snake, one of those which sprang from 
the Gorgon’s head when Perseus carried it across the sands. 

At last they rowed away toward the northward, for many a 
weary day, till their water was spent, and their food eaten ; and 
they were worn out with hunger and thirst. But at last they 
saw a long steep island, and a blue peak high among the clouds ; 
and they knew it for the peak of Ida, and the famous land of 
Crete. And they said, “We will land in Crete, and see Minos 
the just king, and all his glory and his wealth ; at least he will 
treat us hospitably, and let us fill our water-casks upon the 
shore.” 

But when they came nearer to the island they saw a wondrous 
sight upon the cliffs. For on a cape to the westward stood a 
giant, taller than any mountain pine, who glittered aloft against 

127 


THE HEROES 


the sky like a tower of burnished brass. He turned and looked 
on all sides round him, till he saw the Argo and her crew ; and 
when he saw them he came toward them, more swiftly than the 
swiftest horse, leaping across the glens at a bound, and striding 
at one step from down to down. And when he came abreast 
of them he brandished his arms up and down, as a ship hoists 
and lowers her yards, and shouted with his brazen throat like a 
trumpet from off the hills, “You are pirates, you are robbers! 
If you dare land here, you die.” 

Then the heroes cried: “We are no pirates. We are all good 
men and true, and all we ask is food and water ; ” but the giant 
cried the more, — 

“You are robbers, you are pirates all; I know you; and if 
you land, you shall die the death.” 

Then he waved his arms again as a signal, and they saw 
the people flying inland, driving their flocks before them, 
while a great flame arose among the hills. Then the giant 
ran up a valley and vanished, and the heroes lay on their oars 
in fear. 

But Medeia stood watching all from under her steep black 
brows, with a cunning smile upon her lips, and a cunning plot 
within her heart. At last she spoke : “ I know this giant. I 
heard of him in the East. Hephaistos the Fire King made him 
in his forge in Aitna beneath the earth, and called him Talus, 
and gave him to Minos for a servant, to guard the coast of 
Crete. Thrice a day he walks round the island, and never 
stops to sleep ; and if strangers land he leaps into his furnace, 

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THE ARGONAUTS 


which flames there among the hills; and when he is red-hot 
he rushes on them, and burns them in his brazen hands.” 

Then all the heroes cried : “What shall we do, wise Medeia ? 
We must have water or we die of thirst. Flesh and blood we 
can face fairly ; but who can face this red-hot brass ? ” 

“ I can face red-hot brass, if the tale I hear be true. For 
they say that he has but one vein in all his body, filled with 
liquid fire, and that this vein is closed with a nail ; but I know 
not where that nail is placed. But if I can get it once into 
these hands, you shall water your ship here in peace.” 

Then she bade them put her on shore, and row off again, and 
wait what would befall. 

And the heroes obeyed her unwillingly, for they were ashamed 
to leave her so alone; but Jason said, “She is dearer to me than 
to any of you, yet I will trust her freely on shore ; she has more 
plots than we can dream of in the windings of that fair and 
cunning head.” 

So they left the witch-maiden on the shore; and she stood 
there in her beauty all alone, till the giant strode back red-hot 
from head to heel, while the grass hissed and smoked beneath 
his tread. 

And when he saw the maiden alone, he stopped; and she 
looked boldly up into his face without moving, and began her 
magic song : — 

“Life is short, though life is sweet; and even men of brass 
and fire must die. The brass must rust, the fire must cool, for 
time gnaws all things in their turn. Life is short, though life 

129 


9 


THE HEROES 


is sweet: but sweeter to live for ever; sweeter to live ever 
youthful like the Gods, who have ichor in their veins — ichor 
which gives life, and youth, and joy, and a bounding heart.” 

Then Talus said, “Who are you, strange maiden, and where 
is this ichor of youth?” 

Then Medeia held up a flask of crystal, and said: “Here is 
the ichor of youth. I am Medeia the enchantress; my sister 
Circe gave me this, and said, ‘Go and reward Talus, the faith- 
ful servant, for his fame is gone out into all lands/ So come, 
and I will pour this into your veins, that you may live for ever 
young.” 

And he listened to her false words, that simple Talus, and 
came near ; and Medeia said, “ Dip yourself in the sea first, and 
cool yourself, lest you burn my tender hands ; then show me where 
the nail in your vein is, that I may pour the ichor in.” 

Then that simple Talus dipped himself in the sea, till it hissed, 
and roared, and smoked ; and came and knelt before Medeia, and 
showed her the secret nail. 

And she drew the nail out gently, but she poured no ichor in ; 
and instead the liquid fire spouted forth, like a stream of red-hot 
iron. And Talus tried to leap up, crying, “You have betrayed 
me, false witch-maiden ! ” But she lifted up her hands before 
him, and sang, till he sank beneath her spell. And as he sank, 
his brazen limbs clanked heavily, and the earth groaned beneath 
his weight; and the liquid fire ran from his heel, like a stream 
of lava, to the sea; and Medeia laughed, and called to the heroes, 
u Come ashore, and water your ship in peace.” 

130 


THE ARGONAUTS 

So they came, and found 
the giant lying dead; and 
they fell down, and kissed 
Medeia’s feet; and watered 
their ship, and took sheep 
and oxen, and so left that 
inhospitable shore. 

At last, after many more 
adventures, they came to the 
Cape of Malea, at the south- 
west point of the Peloponnese. 

And there they offered sacri- 
fices, and Orpheus purged 
them from their guilt. Then 
they rode away again to the 
northward, past the Laconian 
shore, and came all worn and 
tired by Sunium, and up the 
long Euboean Strait, until 
they saw once more Pelion, 
and Aphetai, and Iolcos by 
the sea. 

And they ran the ship 
ashore; but they had no 
strength left to haul her up 
the beach ; and they crawled 
out on the pebbles, and sat 




THE HEROES 


down, and wept till they could weep no more. For the houses 
and the trees were all altered; and all the faces which they saw 
were strange ; and their joy was swallowed up in sorrow, while 
they thought of their youth, and all their labour, and the gallant 
comrades they had lost. 

And the people crowded round, and asked them, “ Who are 
you, that you sit weeping here ? ” 

“ We are the sons of your princes, who sailed out many a year 
ago. We went to fetch the golden fleece, and we have brought 
it, and grief therewith. Give us news of our fathers and our 
mothers, if any of them be left alive on earth.” 

Then there was shouting, and laughing, and weeping ; and 
all the kings came to the shore, and they led away the heroes 
to their homes, and bewailed the valiant dead. 

Then Jason went up with Medeia to the palace of his 
uncle Pelias. And when he came in Pelias sat by the hearth, 
crippled and blind with age; while opposite him sat iTson, 
Jason’s father, crippled and blind likewise ; and the two old 
men’s heads shook together as they tried to warm themselves 
before the fire. 

And Jason fell down at his father’s knees, and wept, and called 
him by his name. And the old man stretched his hands out 
and felt him, and said, “ Do not mock me, young hero. My 
son Jason is dead long ago at sea.” 

“ I am your own son Jason, whom you trusted to the Centaur 
upon Pelion ; and I have brought home the golden fleece, and 
a princess of the Sun s race for my bride. So now give me up 

1 3 2 



The two old men’s heads shook together as they tried to warm themselves before the lire. 




THE ARGONAUTS 

the kingdom, Pelias my uncle, and fulfil your promise as I have 
fulfilled mine.” 

Then his father clung to him like a child, and wept, and would 
not let him go; and cried: “Now I shall not go down lonely 
to my grave. Promise me never to leave me till I die.” 


i33 



PART SIX 

What was the end of the Heroes f 

A ND now I wish that I could end my story pleasantly ; but 
it is no fault of mine that I cannot. The old songs end 
it sadly, and I believe that they are right and wise ; for though 
the heroes were purified at Malea, yet sacrifices cannot make bad 
hearts good, and Jason had taken a wicked wife, and he had to 
bear his burden to the last. 

And first she laid a cunning plot to punish that poor old Pelias, 
instead of letting him die in peace. 

For she told his daughters, “I can make old things young 
again; I will show you how easy it is to do.” So she took an 
old ram and killed him, and put him in a caldron with magic 
herbs; and whispered her spells over him, and he leapt out again 
a young lamb. So that “ Medeia’s caldron ” is a proverb still, 
by which we mean times of war and change, when the world 
has become old and feeble, and grows young again through 
bitter pains. 


*34 


THE ARGONAUTS 


Then she said to Pelias’ daughters, “ Do to your father as I 
did to this ram, and he will grow young and strong again.” But 
she only told them half the spell ; so they failed, while Medeia 
mocked them; and poor old Pelias died, and his daughters came 
to misery. But the songs say she cured JEson, Jason’s father, 
and he became young and strong again. 

But Jason could not love her, after all her cruel deeds. So 
he was ungrateful to her, and wronged her ; and she revenged 
herself on him. And a terrible revenge she took — too terrible 
to speak of here. But you will hear of it yourselves when you 
grow up, for it has been sung in noble poetry and music; and 
whether it be true or not, it stands for ever as a warning to us not 
to seek for help from evil persons, or to gain good ends by evil 
means. For if we use an adder even against our enemies, it will 
turn again and sting us. 

But of all the other heroes there is many a brave tale left, 
which I have no space to tell you, so you must read them for 
yourselves ; — of the hunting of the boar in Calydon, which 
Meleager killed; and of Heracles’ twelve famous labours; and 
of the seven who fought at Thebes; and of the noble love of 
Castor and Polydeuces, the twin Dioscouroi, — how when one 
died the other would not live without him, so they shared their 
immortality between them ; and Zeus changed them into the 
two twin stars which never rise both at once. 

And what became of Cheiron, the good immortal beast? 
That, too, is a sad story; for the heroes never saw him more. 
He was wounded by a poisoned arrow, at Pholoe among the 

US 


THE HEROES 


hills, when Heracles opened the fatal wine-jar, which Cheiron 
had warned him not to touch. And the Centaurs smelt the 
wine, and flocked to it, and fought for it with Heracles; but 
he killed them all with his poisoned arrows, and Cheiron was 
left alone. Then Cheiron took up one of the arrows, and 
dropped it by chance upon his foot; and the poison ran like 
fire along his veins, and he lay down and longed to die; and 
cried: “ Through wine I perish, the bane of all my race. Why 
should I live for ever in this agony ? Who will take my im- 
mortality, that I may die ? ” 

Then Prometheus answered, the good Titan, whom Heracles 
had set free from Caucasus, “ I will take your immortality and 
live for ever, that I may help poor mortal men.” So Cheiron 
gave him his immortality, and died, and had rest from pain. 
And Heracles and Prometheus wept over him, and went to bury 
him on Pelion ; but Zeus took him up among the stars, to live 
for ever, grand and mild, low down in the far southern sky. 

And in time the heroes died, all but Nestor, the silver-tongued 
old man ; and left behind them valiant sons, but not so great as 
they had been. Yet their fame, too, lives till this day, for they 
fought at the ten years’ siege of Troy: and their story is in the 
book which we call Homer, in two of the noblest songs on 
earth, — the “ Iliad,” which tells us of the siege of Troy, and 
Achilles’ quarrel with the kings; and the “Odyssey,” which 
tells the wanderings of Odysseus, through many lands for many 
years, and how Alcinous sent him home at last, safe to Ithaca, 
his beloved island, and to Penelope, his faithful wife, and 

! 3 6 


THE ARGONAUTS 


Telemachus his son, and Euphorbus the noble swineherd, and 
the old dog who licked his hand and died. We will read that 
sweet story, children, by the fire some winter night. And now I 
will end my tale, and begin another and a more cheerful one, of 
a hero who became a worthy king, and won his people’s love. 



*37 










. 



Cite Citirtr J?>t0rg 
THESEUS 


l 39 





































®iut» ^ t o r g — drrsrtio 

PART ONE 

How Theseus lifted the Stone 

O NCE upon a time there was a princess in Troezene, Aithra, 
the daughter of Pittheus the king. She had one fair son, 
named Theseus, the bravest lad in all the land ; and Aithra never 
smiled but when she looked at him, for her husband had for- 
gotten her, and lived far away. And she used to go up to 
the mountain above Troezene, to the temple of Poseidon, and 
sit there all day looking out across the bay, over Methana, 
to the purple peaks of JE gina and the Attic shore beyond. 
And when Theseus was full fifteen years old she took him 
up with her to the temple, and into the thickets of the grove 
which grew in the temple-yard. And she led him to a tall 
plane-tree, beneath whose shade grew arbutus, and lentisk, 
and purple heather-bushes. And there she sighed, and said, 
“ Theseus, my son, go into that thicket, and you will find at 

141 


THE HEROES 

the plane-tree foot a great flat stone; lift it, and bring me what 
lies underneath.” 

Then Theseus pushed his way in through the thick bushes, 
and saw that they had not been moved for many a year. And 
searching among their roots he found a great flat stone, all over- 
grown with ivy, and acanthus, and moss. He tried to lift it, 
but he could not. And he tried till the sweat ran down his 
brow from heat, and the tears from his eyes for shame; but 
all was of no avail. And at last he came back to his mother, 
and said, “I have found the stone, but I cannot lift it; nor do 
I think that any man could in all Troezene.” 

Then she sighed, and said: “The Gods wait long; but they 
are just at last. Let it be for another year. The day may come 
when you will be a stronger man than lives in all Troezene.” 

Then she took him by the hand, and went into the temple and 
prayed, and came down again with Theseus to her home. 

And when a full year was past she led Theseus up again to the 
temple, and bade him lift the stone; but he could not. 

Then she sighed, and said the same words again, and went 
down, and came again the next year; but Theseus could not 
lift the stone then, nor the year after; and he longed to ask his 
mother the meaning of that stone, and what might lie under- 
neath it ; but her face was so sad that he had not the heart 
to ask. 

So he said to himself: “The day shall surely come when I 
will lift that stone, though no man in Troezene can.” And in 
order to grow strong he spent all his days in wrestling, and 

142 


THESEUS 


boxing, and hurling, and taming horses, and hunting the boar 
and the bull, and coursing goats and deer among the rocks; till 
upon all the mountains there was no hunter so swift as Theseus; 
and he killed Phaia the wild sow of Crommyon, which wasted 
all the land ; till all the people said, “ Surely the Gods are with 
the lad.” 

And when his eighteenth year was past, Aithra led him up 
again to the temple, and said, “ Theseus, lift the stone this day, 
or never know who you are.” And Theseus went into the 
thicket, and stood over the stone, and tugged at it; and it 
moved. Then his spirit swelled within him, and he said, “ If 
I break my heart in my body, it shall up.” And he tugged at 
it once more, and lifted it, and rolled it over with a shout. 

And when he looked beneath it, on the ground lay a sword 
of bronze, with a hilt of glittering gold, and by it a pair of 
golden sandals; and he caught them up, and burst through the 
bushes like a wild boar, and leapt to his mother, holding them 
high above his head. 

But when she saw them she wept long in silence, hiding her 
fair face in her shawl; and Theseus stood by her wondering, 
and wept also, he knew not why. And when she was tired of 
weeping, she lifted up her head, and laid her finger on her lips, 
and said, “Hide them in your bosom, Theseus my son, and 
come with me where we can look down upon the sea.” 

Then they went outside the sacred wall, and looked down over 
the bright blue sea ; and Aithra said, — 

“Do you see this land at our feet?” 

H3 


THE HEROES 

And he said, “Yes; this is Troezene, where I was born and 
bred.” 

And she said: “It is but a little land, barren and rocky, and 
looks towards the bleak northeast. Do you see that land 
beyond ? ” 

“Yes; that is Attica, where the Athenian people dwell.” 

“ That is a fair land and large, Theseus my son ; and it looks 
toward the sunny south ; a land of olive-oil and honey, the joy 
of Gods and men. For the Gods have girdled it with moun- 
tains, whose veins are of pure silver, and their bones of marble 
white as snow; and there the hills are sweet with thyme and 
basil, and the meadows with violet and asphodel, and the night- 
ingales sing all day in the thickets, by the side of ever-flowing 
streams. There are twelve towns well peopled, the homes of 
an ancient race, the children of Kekrops the serpent-king, the 
son of Mother Earth, who wear gold cicalas among the tresses 
of their golden hair; for like the cicalas they sprang from the 
earth, and like the cicalas they sing all day, rejoicing in the 
genial sun. What would you do, son Theseus, if you were 
king of such a land?” 

Then Theseus stood astonished, as he looked across the broad 
bright sea, and saw the fair Attic shore, from Sunium to Hymet- 
tus and Pentelicus, and all the mountain peaks which girdle 
Athens round. But Athens itself he could not see, for purple 
iEgina stood before it, midway across the sea. 

Then his heart grew great within him, and he said, “If I 
were king of such a land, I would rule it wisely and well in 

*44 



Do you see that land beyond ? 














THESEUS 


wisdom and in might, that when I died all men might weep over 
my tomb, and cry, * Alas for the shepherd of his people ! ’ ” 

And Aithra smiled, and said, “Take, then, the sword and the 
sandals, and go to JE geus, king of Athens, who lives on Pallas’ 
hill ; and say to him, ‘ The stone is lifted, but whose is the 
pledge beneath it ? ’ Then show him the sword and the sandals, 
and take what the Gods shall send.” 

But Theseus wept, “Shall I leave you, O my mother?” 

But she answered: “Weep not for me. That which is fated 
must be ; and grief is easy to those who do naught but grieve. 
Full of sorrow was my youth, and full of sorrow my woman- 
hood. Full of sorrow was my youth for Bellerophon, the slayer 
of the Chimaera, whom my father drove away by treason ; and 
full of sorrow my womanhood, for thy treacherous father and 
for thee ; and full of sorrow my old age will be (for I see my 
fate in dreams), when the sons of the Swan shall carry me captive 
to the hollow vale of Eurotas, till I sail across the seas a slave* 
the handmaid of the pest of Greece. Yet shall I be avenged* 
when the golden-haired heroes sail against Troy, and sack the 
palaces of Ilium ; then my son shall set me free from thraldom, 
and I shall hear the tale of Theseus’ fame. Yet beyond that I see 
new sorrows ; but I can bear them as I have borne the past.” 

Then she kissed Theseus, and wept over him ; and went into 
the temple, and Theseus saw her no more. 


IO 


!4S 



PART TWO 

How "Theseus slew the Devourers of Men 

S O Theseus stood there alone, with his mind full of many 
hopes. And first he thought of going down to the harbour 
andhiring a swift ship, and sailing across the bay to Athens ; but 
even that seemed too slow for him, and he longed for wings to 
fly across the sea, and find his father. But after a while his heart 
began to fail him ; and he sighed, and said within himself : — 

“ What if my father have other sons about him whom he 
loves ? What if he will not receive me ? And what have I 
done that he should receive me? He has forgotten me ever 
since I was born; why should he welcome me now?” 

Then he thought a long while sadly ; and at the last he cried 
aloud: “Yes! I will make him love me; for I will prove my- 
self worthy of his love. I will win honour and renown, and do 
such deeds that iEgeus shall be proud of me, though he had fifty 
other sons! Did not Heracles win himself honour, though he 
was oppressed, and the slave of Eurystheus ? Did he not kill 

146 


THESEUS 


all robbers and evil beasts, and drain great lakes and marshes, 
breaking the hills through with his club ? Therefore it was that 
all men honoured him, because he rid them of their miseries, and 
made life pleasant to them and their children after them. Where 
can I go, to do as Heracles has done ? Where can I find strange 
adventures, robbers, and monsters, and the children of hell, the 
enemies of men ? I will go by land, and into the mountains, 
and round by the way of the Isthmus. Perhaps there I may 
hear of brave adventures, and do something which shall win my 
father’s love.” 

So he went by land, and away into the mountains, with his 
father’s sword upon his thigh, till he came to the Spider moun- 
tains, which hang over Epidaurus and the sea, where the glens 
run downward from one peak in the midst, as the rays spread 
in the spider’s web. 

And he went up into the gloomy glens, between the furrowed 
marble walls, till the lowland grew blue beneath his feet and the 
clouds drove damp about his head. 

But he went up and up for ever, through the spider’s web of 
glens, till he could see the narrow gulfs spread below him, north 
and south, and east and west; black cracks half choked with mists, 
and above all a dreary down. 

But over that down he must go, for there was no road right or 
left ; so he toiled on through bog and brake, till he came to a 
pile of stones. 

And on the stones a man was sitting, wrapt in a bearskin cloak. 
The head of the bear served him for a cap, and its teeth grinned 

147 


THE HEROES 


white around his brows; and the feet were tied about his throat, 
and their claws shone white upon his chest. And when he saw 

Theseus he rose, and laughed 
till the glens rattled. 

“And who art thou, fair 
fly, who has walked into the 
spider’s web ? ” But Theseus 
walked on steadily, and made 
no answer; but he thought, 
“Is this some robber? and 
has an adventure come already 
to me?” But the strange 
man laughed louder than ever, 
and said, — 

“Bold fly, know you not 
that these glens are the web 
from which no fly ever finds 
his way out again, and this 
down the spider’s house, and 
I the spider who sucks the 
flies ? Come hither and let 
me feast upon you; for it is 
of no use to run away, so 
cunning a web has my father 
Hephaistos spread for me when 
he made these clefts in the mountains, through which no man 
finds his way home.” 



148 


THESEUS 


But Theseus came on steadily, and asked, — 

“And what is your name among men, bold spider? and where 
are your spider’s fangs?” 

Then the strange man laughed again, — 

“ My name is Periphetes, the son of Hephaistos and Anticleia 
the mountain nymph. But men call me Corynetes the club- 
bearer ; and here is my spider’s fang.” 

And he lifted from off the stones at his side a mighty club 
of bronze. 

“This my father gave me, and forged it himself in the roots 
of the mountain ; and with it I pound all proud flies till they 
give out their fatness and their sweetness. So give me up that 
gay sword of yours, and your mantle, and your golden sandals, 
lest I pound you, and by ill-luck you die.” 

But Theseus wrapt his mantle round his left arm quickly, in 
hard folds, from his shoulder to his hand, and drew his sword, and 
rushed upon the club-bearer, and the club-bearer rushed on him. 

Thrice he struck at Theseus, and made him bend under the 
blows like a sapling; but Theseus guarded his head with his left 
arm, and the mantle which was wrapt around it. 

And thrice Theseus sprang upright after the blow, like a sap- 
ling when the storm is past; and he stabbed at the club-bearer 
with his sword, but the loose folds of the bearskin saved him. 

Then Theseus grew mad, and closed with him, and caught 
him by the throat, and they fell and rolled over together; but 
when Theseus rose up from the ground the club-bearer lay still 
at his feet. 


149 


THE HEROES 


Then Theseus took his club and his bearskin, and left him to 
the kites and crows, and went upon his journey down the glens 
on the farther slope, till he came to a broad green valley, and 
saw flocks and herds sleeping beneath the trees. 

And by the side of a pleasant fountain, under the shade of 
rocks and trees, were nymphs and shepherds dancing ; but no 
one piped to them while they danced. 

And when they saw Theseus they shrieked ; and the shepherds 
ran off, and drove away their flocks, while the nymphs dived into 
the fountain like coots, and vanished. 

Theseus wondered and laughed, “ What strange fancies have 
folks here who run away from strangers, and have no music when 
they dance ! ” But he was tired, and dusty, and thirsty; so he 
thought no more of them, but drank and bathed in the clear 
pool, and then lay down in the shade under a plane-tree, while the 
water sang him to sleep, as it tinkled down from stone to stone. 

And when he woke he heard a whispering, and saw the 
nymphs peeping at him across the fountain from the dark mouth 
of a cave, where they sat on green cushions of moss. And one 
said, “ Surely he is not Periphetes ; ” and another, “He looks 
like no robber, but a fair and gentle youth.” 

Then Theseus smiled, and called them: “Fair nymphs, I am 
not Periphetes. He sleeps among the kites and crows ; but I 
have brought away his bearskin and his club.” 

Then they leapt across the pool, and came to him, and called 
the shepherds back. And he told them how he had slain the 
club-bearer: and the shepherds kissed his feet and sang, “Now 

150 



When they saw Theseus they shrieked; and the shepherds ran off. 





THESEUS 


we shall feed our flocks in peace, and not be afraid to have 
music when we dance; for the cruel club-bearer has met his 
match, and he will listen for our pipes no more. ,, 

Then they brought him kid’s flesh and wine, and the nymphs 
brought him honey from the rocks, and he ate, and drank, and 
slept again, while the nymphs and shepherds danced and sang. 
And when he woke, they begged him to stay; but he would 
not. “ I have a great work to do,” he said ; “ I must be away 
toward the Isthmus, that I may go to Athens.” 

But the shepherds said: “Will you go alone toward Athens? 
None travel that way now, except in armed troops.” 

“As for arms, I have enough, as you see. And as for troops, 
an honest man is good enough company for himself. Why 
should I not go alone toward Athens?” 

“ If you do, you must look warily about you on the Isthmus, 
lest you meet Sinis the robber, whom men call Pituocamptes the 
pine-bender; for he bends down two pine-trees, and binds all 
travellers hand and foot between them, and when he lets the 
trees go again their bodies are torn in sunder.” 

“ And after that,” said another, “ you must go inland, and not 
dare to pass over the cliffs of Sciron ; for on the left hand are 
the mountains, and on the right the sea, so that you have no 
escape, but must needs meet Sciron the robber, who will make 
you wash his feet: and while you are washing them he will 
kick you over the cliff, to the tortoise who lives below, and feeds 
upon the bodies of the dead.” 

And before Theseus could answer, another cried, “ And after 

I S I 


THE HEROES 


that is a worse danger still, unless you go inland always, and 
leave Eleusis far on your right. For in Eleusis rules Kerkuon 
the cruel king, the terror of all mortals, who killed his own 
daughter Alope in prison. But she was changed into a fair foun- 
tain ; and her child he cast out upon the mountains, but the wild 
mares gave it milk. And now he challenges all comers to wrestle 
with him, for he is the best wrestler in all Attica, and overthrows 
all who come; and those whom he overthrows he murders 
miserably, and his palace court is full of their bones.” 

Then Theseus frowned, and said, “This seems indeed an ill- 
ruled land, and adventures enough in it to be tried. But if I am 
the heir of it, I will rule it and right it, and here is my royal 
sceptre.” And he shook his club of bronze, while the nymphs 
and shepherds clung around him, and entreated him not to go. 

But on he went, nevertheless, till he could see both the seas 
and the citadel of Corinth towering high above all the land. 
And he past swiftly along the Isthmus, for his heart burned to 
meet that cruel Sinis; and in a pine-wood at last he met him, 
where the Isthmus was narrowest and the road ran between high 
rocks. There he sat upon a stone by the wayside, with a young 
fir-tree for a club across his knees, and a cord laid ready by his 
side; and over his head, upon the fir-tops, hung the bones of 
murdered men. 

Then Theseus shouted to him, “ Holla, thou valiant pine- 
bender, hast thou two fir-trees left for me ? ” 

And Sinis leapt to his feet, and answered, pointing to the bones 
above his head, “ My larder has grown empty lately, so I have 

152 


THESEUS 


two fir-trees ready for thee.” And he rushed on Theseus, lift- 
ing his club, and Theseus rushed upon him. 

Then they hammered together till the green woods rang; but 
the metal was tougher than the pine, and Sinis’ club broke right 
across, as the bronze came down upon it. Then Theseus heaved 
up another mighty stroke, and smote Sinis down upon his face ; 
and knelt upon his back, and bound him with his own cord, and 
said, “ As thou hast done to others, so shall it be done to thee.” 
Then he bent down two young fir-trees, and bound Sinis between 
them, for all his struggling and his prayers ; and let them go, and 
ended Sinis, and went on, leaving him to the hawks and crows. 

Then he went over the hills toward Megara, keeping close 
along the Saronic Sea, till he came to the cliffs of Sciron, and the 
narrow path between the mountain and the sea. 

And there he saw Sciron sitting by a fountain, at the edge of 
the cliff. On his knees was a mighty club ; and he had barred the 
path with stones, so that every one must stop who came up. 

Then Theseus shouted to him, and said, “Holla, thou tortoise- 
feeder, do thy feet need washing to-day ? ” 

And Sciron leapt to his feet and answered, — 

“ My tortoise is empty and hungry, and my feet need washing 
to-day.” And he stood before his barrier, and lifted up his club 
in both hands. 

Then Theseus rushed upon him ; and sore was the battle upon 
the cliff, for when Sciron felt the weight of the bronze club, he 
dropt his own, and closed with Theseus, and tried to hurl him 
by main force over the cliff. But Theseus was a wary wrestler, 

l S3 


THE HEROES 


and dropt his own club, and caught him by the throat and by 
the knee, and forced him back against the wall of stones, and 
crushed him up against them, till his breath was almost gone. 
And Sciron cried panting, “ Loose me, and I will let thee pass.” 
But Theseus answered, “ I must not pass till I have made the 
rough way smooth ; ” and he forced him back against the wall 
till it fell, and Sciron rolled head over heels. 

Then Theseus lifted him up all bruised, and said, “ Come 
hither and wash my feet.” And he drew his sword, and sat 
down by the well, and said, “ Wash my feet, or I cut you 
piecemeal.” 

And Sciron washed his feet trembling ; and when it was done, 
Theseus rose, and cried, “ As thou hast done to others, so shall 
it be done to thee. Go feed thy tortoise thyself ; ” and he 
kicked him over the cliff into the sea. 

And whether the tortoise ate him, I know not ; for some say 
that earth and sea both disdained to take his body, so foul it was 
with sin. So the sea cast it out upon the shore, and the shore 
cast it back into the sea, and at last the waves hurled it high into 
the air in anger ; and it hung there long without a grave, till it 
was changed into a desolate rock, which stands there in the surge 
until this day. 

This at least is true, which Pausanias tells, that in the royal 
porch at Athens he saw the figure of Theseus modelled in clay, 
and by him Sciron the robber falling headlong into the sea. 

Then he went a long day’s journey, past Megara, into the 
Attic land, and high before him rose the snow-peaks of Cithaeron, 

154 



Go feed thy tortoise thyself , 





THESEUS 


all cold above the black pine-woods, where haunt the Furies, 
and the raving Bacchae, and the Nymphs who drive men wild, 
far aloft upon the dreary mountains, where the storms howl all 
day long. And on his right hand was the sea always, and Salamis, 
with its island cliffs, and the sacred strait of the sea-fight, where 
afterwards the Persians fled before the Greeks. So he went all 
day until the evening, till he saw the Thriasian plain, and the 
sacred city of Eleusis, where the Earth-mother’s temple stands. 
For there she met Triptolemus, when all the land lay waste, 
Demeter the kind Earth-mother, and in her hands a sheaf of 
corn. And she taught him to plough the fallows, and to yoke 
the lazy kine; and she taught him to sow the seed-fields, and 
to reap the golden grain ; and sent him forth to teach all nations, 
and give corn to labouring men. So at Eleusis all men honour 
her, whosoever tills the land; her and Triptolemus her beloved, 
who gave corn to labouring men. 

And he went along the plain into Eleusis, and stood in the 
market-place, and cried, — 

“ Where is Kerkuon, the king of the city ? I must wrestle 
a fall with him to-day.” 

Then all the people crowded round him, and cried: “Fan- 
youth, why will you die ? Hasten out of the city, before the 
^ruel king hears that a stranger is here.” 

But Theseus went up through the town, while the people 
wept and prayed, and through the gates of the palace-yard, and 
through the piles of bones and skulls, till he came to the door of 
Kerkuon’s hall, the terror of all mortal men. 

X 5S 


THE HEROES 


And there he saw Kerkuon sitting at the table in the hall 
alone; and before him was a whole sheep roasted, and beside 



him a whole jar of wine. And Theseus stood and called him, 
‘‘Holla, thou valiant wrestler, wilt thou wrestle a fall to-day ?” 

And Kerkuon looked up and laughed, and answered, “I will 
wrestle a fall to-day ; but come in, for I am lonely and thou 
weary, and eat and drink before thou die.” 

156 



THESEUS 


Then Theseus went up boldly, and sat down before Kerkuon 
at the board: and he ate his fill of the sheep’s flesh, and drank 
his fill of the wine; and Theseus ate enough for three men, but 
Kerkuon ate enough for seven. 

But neither spoke a word to the other, though they looked 
across the table by stealth; and each said in his heart, “ He has 
broad shoulders; but I trust mine are as broad as his.” 

At last, when the sheep was eaten and the jar of wine drained 
dry, King Kerkuon rose, and cried, “ Let us wrestle a fall before 
we sleep.” 

So they tossed off all their garments, and went forth in the 
palace-yard ; and Kerkuon bade strew fresh sand in an open 
space between the bones. And there the heroes stood face to 
face, while their eyes glared like wild bulls’ ; and all the people 
crowded at the gates to see what would befall. 

And there they stood and wrestled, till the stars shone out 
above their heads ; up and down and round, till the sand was 
stamped hard beneath their feet. And their eyes flashed like 
stars in the darkness, and their breath went up like smoke in the 
night air ; but neither took nor gave a footstep, and the people 
watched silent at the gates. 

But at last Kerkuon grew angry, and caught Theseus round 
the neck, and shook him as a mastiff shakes a rat ; but he could 
not shake him off his feet. 

But Theseus was quick and wary, and clasped Kerkuon round 
the waist, and slipped his loin quickly underneath him, while he 
caught him by the wrist; and then he hove a mighty heave, 

1 S1 


THE HEROES 


a heave which would have stirred an oak, and lifted Kerkuon, 
and pitched him right over his shoulder on the ground. 

Then he leapt on him, and called, “Yield, or I kill thee!” 
but Kerkuon said no word; for his heart was burst within him 
with the fall, and the meat, and the wine. 

Then Theseus opened the gates, and called in all the people; 
and they cried, “You have slain our evil king; be you now our 
king, and rule us well.” 

“ I will be your king in Eleusis, and I will rule you right and 
well ; for this cause I have slain all evildoers — Sinis, and Sciron, 
and this man last of all.” 

Then an aged man stepped forth, and said, “Young hero, hast 
thou slain Sinis ? Beware then of Aegeus, king of Athens, to 
whom thou goest, for he is near of kin to Sinis.” 

“Then I have slain my own kinsman,” said Theseus, “though 
well he deserved to die. Who will purge me from his death, 
for rightfully I slew him, unrighteous and accursed as he 
was? ” 

And the old man answered, — 

“ That will the heroes do, the sons of Phytalus, who dwell 
beneath the elm-tree in Aphidnai, by the bank of silver Cephisus ; 
for they know the mysteries of the Gods. Thither you shall 
go and be purified, and after you shall be our king.” 

So he took an oath of the people of Eleusis, that they would 
serve him as their king, and went away next morning across the 
Thriasian plain, and over the hills toward Aphidnai, that he 
might find the sons of Phytalus. 

158 



At last Kerkuon grew angry and caught Theseus round the neck, 






THESEUS 


And as he was skirting the Vale of Cephisus, along the foot 
of lofty Parnes, a very tall and strong man came down to meet 
him, dressed in rich garments. On his arms were golden brace- 
lets, and round his neck a collar of jewels; and he came forward, 
bowing courteously, and held out both his hands, and spoke,— 

“ Welcome, fair youth, to these mountains; happy am I to 
have met you! For what greater pleasure to a good man than 
to entertain strangers ? But I see that you are weary. Come up 
to my castle, and rest yourself awhile.” 

“I give you thanks,” said Theseus; “ but I am in haste to go 
up the valley, and to reach Aphidnai in the Vale of Cephisus.” 

“Alas! you have wandered far from the right way, and you 
cannot reach Aphidnai to-night, for there are many miles of 
mountain between you and it, and steep passes, and cliffs dan- 
gerous after nightfall. It is well for you that I met you, for 
my whole joy is to find strangers, and to feast them at my castle, 
and hear tales from them of foreign lands. Come up with me, 
and eat the best of venison, and drink the rich red wine, and 
sleep upon my famous bed, of which all travellers say that they 
never saw the like. For whatsoever the stature of my guest, 
however tall or short, that bed fits him to a hair, and he sleeps 
on it as he never slept before.” And he laid hold on Theseus’ 
hands, and would not let him go. 

Theseus wished to go forwards : but he was ashamed to seem 
churlish to so hospitable a man ; and he was curious to see that 
wondrous bed ; and beside, he was hungry and weary : yet he 
shrank from the man, he knew not why ; for, though his voice 

1 59 


THE HEROES 


was gentle and fawning, it was dry and husky like a toad’s; and 
though his eyes were gentle, they were dull and cold like stones. 
But he consented, and went with the man up a glen which led 
from the road toward the peaks of Parnes, under the dark shadow 
of the cliffs. 

And as they went up, the glen grew narrower, and the cliffs 
higher and darker, and beneath them a torrent roared, half seen 
between bare limestone crags. And around them was neither 
tree nor bush, while from the white peaks of Parnes the snow- 
blasts swept down the glen, cutting and chilling, till a horror fell 
on Theseus as he looked round at that doleful place. And he 
asked at last, “Your castle stands, it seems, in a dreary region.” 

“Yes; but once within it, hospitality makes all things cheer- 
ful. But who are these?” and he looked back, and Theseus 
also ; and far below, along the road which they had left, came 
a string of laden asses, and merchants walking by them, watching 
their ware. 

“Ah, poor souls!” said the stranger. “Well for them that 
I looked back and saw them ! And well for me too, for I shall 
have the more guests at my feast. Wait awhile till I go down 
and call them, and we will eat and drink together the livelong 
night. Happy am I, to whom Heaven sends so many guests 
at once ! ” 

And he ran back down the hill, waving his hand and shouting 
to the merchants, while Theseus went slowly up the steep pass. 

But as he went up he met an aged man, who had been gather- 
ing driftwood in the torrent-bed. He had laid down his faggot 

160 


THESEUS 


in the road, and was trying to lift it again to his shoulder. And 
when he saw Theseus, he called to him, and said, — 

“ O fair youth, help me up 
with my burden, for my limbs 
are stiff and weak with years.” 

Then Theseus lifted the 
burden on his back. And the 
old man blest him, and then 
looked earnestly upon him, and 
said, — 

“Who are you, fair youth, 
and wherefore travel you this 
doleful road?” 

“Who I am my parents 
know; but I travel this doleful 
road because I have been in- 
vited by a hospitable man, who 
promises to feast me, and to 
make me sleep upon I know 
not what wondrous bed.” 

Then the old man clapped his 
hands together and cried, — 

“ O house of Hades, man- 
devouring ! will thy maw never 
be full ? Know, fair youth, that you are going to torment and 
to death, for he who met you (I will requite your kindness by 
another) is a robber and a murderer of men. Whatsoever stranger 

ii 1 6 1 



THE HEROES 


he meets he entices him hither to death ; and as for this bed of 
which he speaks, truly it fits all comers, yet none ever rose alive 
off it save me.” 

“Why?” asked Theseus, astonished. 

“ Because, if a man be too tall for it, he lops his limbs till they 
be short enough, and if he be too short, he stretches his limbs 
till they be long enough ; but me only he spared, seven weary 
years agone ; for I alone of all fitted his bed exactly, so he spared 
me, and made me his slave. And once I was a wealthy mer- 
chant, and dwelt in brazen-gated Thebes ; but now I hew wood 
and draw water for him, the torment of all mortal men.” 

Then Theseus said nothing ; but he ground his teeth together. 

“ Escape, then,” said the old man, “ for he will have no pity 
on thy youth. But yesterday he brought up hither a young 
man and a maiden, and fitted them upon his bed ; and the 
young man’s hands and feet he cut off, but the maiden’s limbs 
he stretched until she died, and so both perished miserably — but 
I am tired of weeping over the slain. And therefore he is called 
Procrustes the stretcher, though his father called him Damastes. 
Flee from him : yet whither will you flee ? The cliffs are steep, 
and who can climb them ? and there is no other road.” 

But Theseus laid his hand upon the old man’s mouth, and 
said, “There is no need to flee;” and he turned to go down 
the pass. 

“ Do not tell him that I have warned you, or he will kill me 
by some evil death; ” and the old man screamed after him down 
the glen ; but Theseus strode on in his wrath. 

162 



Theseus Hung him from him , and lifted up his dreadful club 









THESEUS 


And he said to himself, “This is an ill-ruled land; when shall 
I have done ridding it of monsters?” And as he spoke, Pro- 
crustes came up the hill, and all the merchants with him, smiling 
and talking gaily. And when he saw Theseus, he cried, “ Ah, 
fair young guest, have I kept you too long waiting?” 

But Theseus answered, “ The man who stretches his guests 
upon a bed and hews off their hands and feet, what shall be done 
to him, when right is done throughout the land ? ” 

Then Procrustes’ countenance changed, and his cheeks grew 
as green as a lizard, and he felt for his sword in haste ; but 
Theseus leapt on him, and cried, — 

“Is this true, my host, or is it false?” and he clasped Pro- 
crustes round waist and elbow, so that he could not draw 
his sword. 

“ Is this true, my host, or is it false?” But Procrustes answered 
never a word. 

Then Theseus flung him from him, and lifted up his dreadful 
club ; and before Procrustes could strike him he had struck, and 
felled him to the ground. 

And once again he struck him ; and his evil soul fled forth, 
and went down to Hades squeaking, like a bat into the darkness 
of a cave. 

Then Theseus stript him of his gold ornaments, and went up 
to his house, and found there great wealth and treasure, which 
he had stolen from the passers-by. And he called the people of 
the country, whom Procrustes had spoiled a long time, and parted 
the spoil among them, and went down the mountains and away. 

163 


THE HEROES 


And he went down the glens of Parnes, through mist, and 
cloud, and rain, down the slopes of oak, and lentisk, and arbutus, 



and fragrant bay, till he came to the Vale of Cephisus, and the 
pleasant town of Aphidnai, and the home of the Phytalid heroes, 
where they dwelt beneath a mighty elm. 

164 




THESEUS 


And there they built an altar, and bade him bathe in Cephisus 
and offer a yearling ram, and purified him from the blood of 
Sinis, and sent him away in peace. 

And he went down the valley by Acharnai, and by the silver- 
swirling stream, while all the people blessed him, for the fame 
of his prowess had spread wide, till he saw the plain of Athens, 
and the hill where Athene dwells. 

So Theseus went up through Athens, and all the people ran 
out to see him; for his fame had gone before him, and every 
one knew of his mighty deeds. And all cried, “Here comes 
the hero who slew Sinis, and Phaia the wild sow of Crommyon, 
and conquered Kerkuon in wrestling, and slew Procrustes the 
pitiless.’ * But Theseus went on sadly and steadfastly, for his 
heart yearned after his father ; and he said, “ How shall I deliver 
him from these leeches who suck his blood ?” 

So he went up the holy stairs, and into the Acropolis, where 
iTgeus’ palace stood ; and he went straight into Tgeus’ hall, and 
stood upon the threshold, and looked round. 

And there he saw his cousins sitting about the table at the 
wine ; many a son of Pallas, but no iEgeus among them. There 
they sat and feasted, and laughed, and passed the wine-cup round ; 
while harpers harped, and slave-girls sang, and the tumblers 
showed their tricks. 

Loud laughed the sons of Pallas, and fast went the wine-cup 
round; but Theseus frowned, and said under his breath, “No 
wonder that the land is full of robbers, while such as these 
bear rule.” 


i6 5 


THE HEROES 


Then the Pallantids saw him, and called to him, half drunk 
with wine, “Holla, tall stranger at the door, what is your will 
to-day ?” 

“ I come hither to ask for hospitality.” 

“Then take it, and welcome. You look like a hero and a 
bold warrior ; and we like such to drink with us.” 

“ I ask no hospitality of you ; I ask it of iEgeus the king, the 
master of this house.” 

At that some growled, and some laughed, and shouted, “ Hey- 
day ! we are all masters here.” 

“Then I am master as much as the rest of you,” said Theseus, 
and he strode past the table up the hall, and looked around for 
iTgeus ; but he was nowhere to be seen. 

The Pallantids looked at him, and then at each other; 
and each whispered to the man next him, “ This is a forward 
fellow ; he ought to be thrust out at the door.” But each 
man’s neighbour whispered in return, “ His shoulders are broad ; 
will you rise and put him out?” So they all sat still where 
they were. 

Then Theseus called to the servants, and said, “ Go tell King 
Aigeus, your master, that Theseus of Troezene is here, and asks 
to be his guest awhile.” 

A servant ran and told iTgeus, where he sat in his chamber 
within, by Medeia the dark witch-woman, watching her eye 
and hand. And when iEgeus heard of Troezene he turned 
pale and red again, and rose from his seat trembling, while 
Medeia watched him like a snake. 


1 66 


THESEUS 


“ What is Troezene to you ? ” she asked. 

But he said hastily : “ Do you not know who this Theseus 
is ? The hero who has cleared the country from all monsters ; 
but that he came from Troezene, I never heard before. I must 
go out and welcome him.” 

So iEgeus came out into the hall; and when Theseus saw him, 
his heart leapt into his mouth, and he longed to fall on his neck 
and welcome him ; but he controlled himself and said : “ My 
father may not wish for me, after all. I will try him before I 
discover myself and he bowed low before Aigeus, and said, 
“ I have delivered the king’s realm from many monsters ; there- 
fore I am come to ask a reward of the king.” 

And old ALgeus looked on him, and loved him, as what fond 
heart would not have done? But he only sighed, and said, — 

“ It is little that I can give you, noble lad, and nothing that 
is worthy of you ; for surely you are no mortal man, or at least 
no mortal’s son.” 

“All I ask,” said Theseus, “is to eat and drink at your table.” 

“That I can give you,” said Aigeus, “if at least I am master 
in my own hall.” 

Then he bade them put a seat for Theseus, and set before him 
the best of the feast ; and Theseus sat, and ate so much that all 
the company wondered at him ; but always he kept his club by 
his side. 

But Medeia the dark witch-woman had been watching him 
all the while. She saw how iEgeus turned red and pale when 
the lad said that he came from Troezene. She saw, too, how his 

167 


THE HEROES 


heart was opened towards Theseus ; and how Theseus bore him- 
self before all the sons of Pallas, like a lion among a pack of 
curs. And she said to herself : “This youth will be master here ; 
perhaps he is nearer to Jigeus already than mere fancy. At least 
the Pallantids will have no chance by the side of such as he.” 

Then she went back into her chamber modestly, while Theseus 
ate and drank ; and all the servants whispered : “ This, then, is the 
man who killed the monsters ! How noble are his looks, and 
how huge his size! Ah, would that he were our master’s son !” 

But presently Medeia came forth, decked in all her jewels and 
her rich Eastern robes, and looking more beautiful than the day, 
so that all the guests could look at nothing else. And in her 
right hand she held a golden cup, and in her left a flask of gold ; 
and she came up to Theseus, and spoke in a sweet, soft, win- 
ning voice, — 

“ Hail to the hero, the conqueror, the unconquered, the 
destroyer of evil things ! Drink, hero, of my charmed cup, 
which gives rest after every toil, which heals all wounds, and 
pours new life into the veins. Drink of my cup, for in it 
sparkles the wine of the East, and Nepenthe, the comfort of 
the Immortals.” 

And as she spoke, she poured the flask into the cup ; and the 
fragrance of the wine spread through the hall, like the scent of 
thyme and roses. 

And Theseus looked up in her fair face and into her. deep dark 
eyes. And as he looked, he shrank and shuddered ; for they were 
dry like the eyes of a snake. And he rose, and said, “ The wine 

1 68 


THESEUS 


is rich and fragrant, and the wine-bearer as fair as the Immortals; 
but let her pledge me first herself in the cup, that the wine may 
be the sweeter from her lips. ,, 

Then Medeia turned pale, and stammered, “ Forgive me, fair 
hero ; but I am ill, and dare drink no wine.” 

And Theseus looked again into her eyes, and cried, “ Thou 
shalt pledge me in that cup, or die.” And he lifted up his 
brazen club, while all the guests looked on aghast. 

Medeia shrieked a fearful shriek, and dashed the cup to the 
ground, and fled; and where the wine flowed over the marble 
pavement, the stone bubbled, and crumbled, and hissed, under 
the fierce venom of the draught. 

But Medeia called her dragon chariot, and sprang into it and 
fled aloft, away over land and sea, and no man saw her more. 

And fEgeus cried, “ What hast thou done ? ” 

But Theseus pointed to the stone. “ I have rid the land of 
an enchantment ; now I will rid it of one more.” 

And he came close toAigeus, and drew from his bosom the 
sword and the sandals, and said the words which his mother 
bade him. 

And fEgeus stepped back apace, and looked at the lad till his 
eyes grew dim ; and then he cast himself on his neck and wept, 
and Theseus wept on his neck, till they had no strength left to 
weep more. 

Then iTgeus turned to all the people, and cried, “Behold 
my son, children of Cecrops, a better man than his father was 
before him.” 


169 


THE HEROES 


Who, then, were mad but the Pallantids, though they had 
been mad enough before? And one shouted, “ Shall we make 
room for an upstart, a pretender, who comes from we know not 
where?” And another, “If he be one, we are more than one; 
and the stronger can hold his own.” And one shouted one thing, 
and one another; for they were hot and wild with wine; but 
all caught swords and lances off the wall, where the weapons 
hung around, and sprang forward to Theseus, and Theseus sprang 
forward to them. 

And he cried, “ Go in peace, if you will, my cousins ; but if 
not, your blood be on your own heads.” But they rushed at 
him ; and then stopped short and railed him, as curs stop and 
bark when they rouse a lion from his lair. 

But one hurled a lance from the rear rank, which passed close 
by Theseus’ head ; and at that Theseus rushed forward, and the 
fight began indeed. Twenty against one they fought, and yet 
Theseus beat them all ; and those who were left fled down into 
the town, where the people set on them, and drove them out, 
till Theseus was left alone in the palace, with iEgeus his new- 
found father. But before nightfall all the town came up, with 
victims, and dances, and songs; and they offered sacrifices to 
Athene, and rejoiced all the night long, because their king had 
found a noble son, and an heir to his royal house. 

So Theseus stayed with his father all the winter ; and when 
the spring equinox drew near, all the Athenians grew sad and 
silent, and Theseus saw it, and asked the reason ; but no one would 
answer him a word. 


170 


THESEUS 


Then he went to his father, and asked him ; but iEgeus turned 
away his face and wept. 

“ Do not ask, my son, beforehand about evils which must 
happen : it is enough to have to face them when they come.” 

And when the spring equinox came, a herald came to Athens, 
and stood in the market, and cried, “ O 
people and King of Athens, where is 
your yearly tribute ?” Then a great 
lamentation arose throughout the city. 

But Theseus stood up to the herald, and 
cried, — 

“ And who are you, dog-faced, who 
dare demand tribute here? If I did not 
reverence your herald’s staff, I would 
brain you with this club.” 

And the herald answered proudly, for 
he was a grave and ancient man, — 

“ Fair youth, I am not dog-faced or 
shameless ; but I do my master’s bidding, 

Minos, the King of hundred-citied Crete, 
the wisest of all kings on earth. And you must be surely a 
stranger here, or you would know why I come, and that I come 
by right.” 

“ I am a stranger here. Tell me, then, why you come ?” 

“To fetch the tribute which King iFgeus promised to Minos, 
and confirmed his promise with an oath. For Minos conquered 
all this land, and Megara, which lies to the east, when he came 

171 



THE HEROES 


hither with a great fleet of ships, enraged about the murder of 
his son. For his son Androgeos came hither to the Panathenaic 
games, and overcame all the Greeks in the sports, so that the 
people honoured him as a hero. But when /Egeus saw his 
valour, he envied him, and feared lest he should join the sons of 
Pallas, and take away the sceptre from him. So he plotted 
against his life, and slew him basely, no man knows how or 
where. Some say that he waylaid him by Oinoe, on the road 
which goes to Thebes; and some that he sent him against the 
bull of Marathon, that the beast might kill him. But /Egeus 
says that the young men killed him from envy, because he had con- 
quered them in the games. So Minos came hither and avenged 
him, and would not depart till this land had promised him tribute 
— seven youths and seven maidens every year, who go with me 
in a black-sailed ship, till they come to hundred-citied Crete.” 

And Theseus ground his teeth together, and said, “ Wert thou 
not a herald I would kill thee for saying such things of my 
father; but I will go to him, and know the truth.” So he went 
to his father, and asked him; but he turned away his head and 
wept and said ; “ Blood was shed in the land unjustly, and by 
blood it is avenged. Break not my heart by question ; it is 
enough to endure in silence/’ 

Then Theseus groaned inwardly, and said, “ I will go myself 
with these youths and maidens, and kill Minos upon his royal 
throne.” 

And /Egeus shrieked, and cried, “ You shall not go, my son, 
the light of my old age, to whom alone I look to rule this people 

172 


THESEUS 


after I am dead and gone. 
You shall not go, to die hor- 
ribly, as those youths and 
maidens die ; for Minos thrusts 
them into a labyrinth, which 
Daidalos made for him among 
the rocks, — Daidalos the rene- 
gade, the accursed, the pest of 
this his native land. From 
that labyrinth no one can es- 
cape, entangled in its winding 
ways, before they meet the 
Minotaur, the monster who 
feeds upon the flesh of men. 
There he devours them horri- 
bly, and they never see this 
land again. ” 

Then Theseus grew red, 
and his ears tingled, and his 
heart beat loud in his bosom. 
And he stood awhile like a 
tall stone pillar on the cliffs 
above some hero’s grave; and 
at last he spoke, — 

“ Therefore all the more I 
will go with them, and slay 
the accursed beast. Have I 



173 




THE HEROES 


not slain all evil-doers and monsters, that I might free this land ? 
Where are Periphetes, and Sinis, and Kerkuon, and Phaia the 
wild sow ? Where are the fifty sons of Pallas ? And this Mino- 
taur shall go the road which they have gone, and Minos himself, 
if he dare stay me.” 

“But how will you slay him, my son? For you must leave 
your club and your armour behind, and be cast to the monster, 
defenceless and naked like the rest.” 

And Theseus said, “ Are there no stones in that labyrinth ; and 
have I not fists and teeth ? Did I need my club to kill Kerkuon, 
the terror of all mortal men ?” 

Then Aigeus clung to his knees ; but he would not hear ; and 
at last he let him go, weeping bitterly, and said only this one 
word, — 

“ Promise me but this, if you return in peace, though that may 
hardly be : take down the black sail of the ship (for I shall watch 
for it all day upon the cliffs), and hoist instead a white sail, that 
I may know afar off that you are safe.” 

And Theseus promised, and went out, and to the market-place 
where the herald stood, while they drew lots for the youths and 
maidens who were to sail in that doleful crew. And the people 
stood wailing and weeping, as the lot fell on this one and on 
that ; but Theseus strode into the midst, and cried, — 

“ Here is a youth who needs no lot. I myself will be one of 
the seven.” 

And the herald asked in wonder, “ Fair youth, know you 
whither you are going?” 


i74 



So they went down to the black-sailed ship, 






THESEUS 

And Theseus said, “ I know. Let us go down to the black- 
sailed ship.” 

So they went down to the black-sailed ship, seven maidens and 
seven youths, and Theseus before them all, and the people follow- 
ing them lamenting. But Theseus whispered to his companions : 
“ Have hope, for the monster is not immortal. Where are Peri- 
phetes, and Sinis, and Sciron, and all whom I have slain ?” 
Then their hearts were comforted a little ; but they wept as they 
went on board, and the cliffs of Sunium rang, and all the isles of 
the iTgean Sea, with the voice of their lamentation, as they sailed 
on towards their deaths in Crete. 


*75 



PART THREE 

How "Theseus slew the Minotaur 


A ND at last they came to Crete, and to Cnossus, beneath 
the peaks of Ida, and to the palace of Minos the great 
king, to whom Zeus himself taught laws. So he was the wisest 
of all mortal kings, and conquered all the fEgean isles; and his 
ships were as many as the sea-gulls, and his palace like a marble 
hill. And he sat among the pillars of the hall, upon his throne 
of beaten gold, and around him stood the speaking statues which 
Daidalos had made by his skill. For Daidalos was the most cun- 
ning of all Athenians, and he first invented the plumb-line, and 
the auger, and glue, and many a tool with which wood is 
wrought. And he first set up masts in ships, and yards, and his 
son made sails for them ; but Perdix his nephew excelled him ; 
for he first invented the saw and its teeth, copying it from the 
backbone of a fish ; and invented, too, the chisel, and the com- 
passes, and the potter’s wheel which moulds the clay. Therefore 
Daidalos envied him, and hurled him headlong from the temple 

176 


THESEUS 


of Athene ; but the Goddess pitied him (for she loves the wise), 
and changed him into a partridge, which flits for ever about the 
hills. And Daidalos fled to Crete, to Minos, and worked for him 
many a year, till he did a shameful deed, at which the sun hid his 
face on high. 

Then he fled from the anger of Minos, he and Icaros his son 
having made themselves wings of feathers, and fixed the feathers 
with wax. So they flew over the sea toward Sicily ; but Icaros 
flew too near the sun ; and the wax of his wings was melted, and 
he fell into the Icarian Sea. But Daidalos came safe to Sicily, 
and there wrought many a wondrous work ; for he made for 
King Cocalos a reservoir, from which a great river watered all the 
land, and a castle and a treasury on a mountain, which the giants 
themselves could not have stormed ; and in Selinos he took the 
steam which comes up from the fires of iEtna, and made of it a 
warm bath of vapour, to cure the pains of mortal men ; and he 
made a honeycomb of gold, in which the bees came and stored 
their honey, and in Egypt he made the forecourt of the temple of 
Hephaistos in Memphis, and a statue of himself within it, and 
many another wondrous work. And for Minos he made statues 
which spoke and moved, and the temple of Britomartis, and the 
dancing-hall of Ariadne, which he carved of fair white stone. 
And in Sardinia he worked for Idlaos, and in many a land beside, 
wandering up and down for ever with his cunning, unlovely and 
accursed by men. 

But Theseus stood before Minos, and they looked each other in 
the face. And Minos bade take them to prison, and cast them 

177 


12 


THE HEROES 


to the monster one by one, that the death of Androgeos might be 
avenged. Then Theseus cried, — 

“ A boon, O Minos ! Let me be thrown first to the beast. 
For I came hither for that very purpose, of my own will, and 
not by lot.” 

“ Who art thou, then, brave youth?” 

“ I am the son of him whom of all men thou hatest most, iFgeus 
the king of Athens, and I am come here to end this matter.” 

And Minos pondered awhile, looking steadfastly at him, and he 
thought, “ The lad means to atone by his own death for his 
father’s sin;” and he answered at last mildly, — 

“ Go back in peace, my son. It is a pity that one so brave 
should die.” 

But Theseus said, “ I have sworn that I will not go back till I 
have seen the monster face to face.” 

And at that Minos frowned, and said, “ Then thou shalt see 
him ; take the madman away.” 

And they led Theseus away into the prison, with the other 
youths and maids. 

But Ariadne, Minos’ daughter, saw him, as she came out of 
her white stone hall ; and she loved him for his courage and his 
majesty, and said, “ Shame that such a youth should die ! ” And 
by night she went down to the prison, and told him all her heart ; 
and said, — 

“Flee down to your ship at once, for I have bribed the guards 
before the door. Flee, you and all your friends, and go back in 
peace to Greece ; and take me, take me with you ! for I dare not 

178 


THESEUS 


stay after you are gone ; for my father will kill me miserably, if 
he knows what I have done.” 

And Theseus stood silent awhile ; for he was astonished and 
confounded by her beauty : but at last he said, “ I cannot go 
home in peace till I have seen and slain this Minotaur, and 
avenged the deaths of the youths and maidens, and put an end to 
the terrors of my land.” 

“ And will you kill the Minotaur? How, then?” 

“ I know not, nor do I care : but he must be strong if he be 
too strong for me.” 

Then she loved him all the more, and said, “ But when you 
have killed him, how will you find your way out of the laby- 
rinth ? ” 

“ I know not, neither do I care ; but it must be a strange road 
if I do not find it out before I have eaten up the monster’s 
carcase.” 

Then she loved him all the more, and said, — 

“ Fair youth, you are too bold ; but I can help you, weak as I 
am. I will give you a sword, and with that perhaps you may 
slay the beast ; and a clue of thread, and by that, perhaps, you 
may find your way out again. Only promise me that if you 
escape safe you will take me home with you to Greece ; for my 
father will surely kill me if he knows what I have done.” 

Then Theseus laughed, and said, “Am I not safe enough 
now ? ” And he hid the sword in his bosom, and rolled up the 
clue in his hand ; and then he swore to Ariadne, and fell down 
before her and kissed her hands and her feet ; and she wept over 


179 


THE HEROES 

him a long while, and then went away ; and Theseus lay down 
and slept sweetly. 

And when the evening came, the guards came in and led him 
away to the labyrinth. 

And he went down into that doleful gulf, through winding 
paths among the rocks, under caverns, and arches, and galleries, 
and over heaps of fallen stone. And he turned on the left hand, 
and on the right hand, and went up and down, till his head was 
dizzy; but all the while he held his clue. For when he went in 
he had fastened it to a stone, and left it to unroll out of his hand 
as he went on ; and it lasted him till he met the Minotaur, in a 
narrow chasm between black cliffs. 

And when he saw him he stopped awhile, for he had never 
seen so strange a beast. His body was a man’s ; but his head 
was the head of a bull, and his teeth were the teeth of a lion, and 
with them he tore his prey. And when he saw Theseus he 
roared, and put his head down, and rushed right at him. 

But Theseus stept aside nimbly, and as he passed by, cut him 
in the knee ; and ere he could turn in the narrow path, he fol- 
lowed him, and stabbed him again and again from behind, till the 
monster fled bellowing wildly ; for he never before had felt a 
wound. And Theseus followed him at full speed, holding the 
clue of thread in his left hand. 

Then on, through cavern after cavern, under dark ribs of sound- 
ing stone, and up rough glens and torrent-beds, among the sunless 
roots of Ida, and to the edge of the eternal snow, went they, the 
hunter and the hunted, while the hills bellowed to the monster’s 
bellow. 180 


THESEUS 


And at last Theseus came up with him, where he lay panting on 
a slab among the snow, and caught him by the horns, and forced 
his head back, and drove the keen sword through his throat. 



Then he turned, and went back limping and weary, feeling his 
way down by the clue of thread, till he came to the mouth of 
that doleful place ; and saw waiting for him whom but Ariadne ! 

And he whispered, “ It is done ! ” and showed her the sword ; 
and she laid her finger on her lips and led him to the prison, 
and opened the doors, and set all the prisoners free, while the 

1 8 1 


THE HEROES 

guards lay sleeping heavily ; for she had silenced them with 
wine. 

Then they fled to their ship together, and leapt on board, and 
hoisted up the sail ; and the night lay dark around them, so that 
they passed through Minos’ ships, and escaped all safe to Naxos; 
and there Ariadne became Theseus’ wife. 


182 



PART FOUR 

How Theseus fell by his Pride 

B UT that fair Ariadne never came to Athens with her hus- 
band. Some say that Theseus left her sleeping on Naxos 
among the Cyclades ; and that Dionusos the wine-king found her, 
and took her up into the sky, as you shall see some day in a 
painting of old Titian’s — one of the most glorious pictures upon 
earth. And some say that Dionusos drove away Theseus, and 
took Ariadne from him by force; but however that may be, in 
his haste or in his grief, Theseus forgot to put up the white sail. 
Now iTgeus his father sat and watched on Sunium day after day, 
and strained his old eyes across the sea to see the ship afar. And 
when he saw the black sail, and not the white one, he gave up 
Theseus for dead, and in his grief he fell into the sea, and died ; 
so it is called the iEgean to this day. 

And now Theseus was king of Athens, and he guarded it and 
ruled it well. 

183 


THE HEROES 


For he killed the bull of Marathon, which had killed Andro- 
geos, Minos' son ; and he drove back the famous Amazons, the 
warlike women of the East, when they came from Asia, and con- 
quered all Hellas, and broke into Athens itself. But Theseus 
stopped them there, and conquered them, and took Hippolute 
their queen to be his wife. Then he went out to fight against 
the Lapithai, and Peirithoos their famous king ; but when the 
two heroes came face to face they loved each other, and embraced, 
and became noble friends; so that the friendship of Theseus and 
Peirithoos is a proverb even now. And he gathered (so the 
Athenians say) all the boroughs of the land together, and knit 
them into one strong people, while before they were all parted 
and weak : and many another wise thing he did, so that his 
people honoured him after he was dead, for many a hundred 
years, as the father of their freedom and their laws. And six 
hundred years after his death, in the famous fight at Marathon, 
men said that they saw the ghost of Theseus, with his mighty 
brazen club, fighting in the van of battle against the invading 
Persians, for the country which he loved. And twenty years 
after Marathon his bones (they say) were found in Scuros, an isle 
beyond the sea ; and they were bigger than the bones of mortal 
man. So the Athenians brought them home in triumph ; and all 
the people came out to welcome them ; and they built over them 
a noble temple, and adorned it with sculptures and paintings ; 
in which we are told all the noble deeds of Theseus, and the 
Centaurs, and the Lapithai, and the Amazons ; and the ruins of 
it are standing still. 


184 


THESEUS 


But why did they find his bones in Scuros ? Why did he not 
die in peace at Athens, and sleep by his father’s side ? Because 
after his triumph he grew proud, and broke the laws of God and 
man. And one thing worst of all he did, which brought him to 
his grave with sorrow. For he went down (they say beneath the 
earth) with that bold Peirithoos his friend to help him to carry 
off Persephone, the queen of the world below. But Peirithoos 
was killed miserably, in the dark fire kingdoms under ground ; 
and Theseus was chained to a rock in everlasting pain. And 
there he sat for years, till Heracles the mighty came down to 
bring up the three-headed dog who sits at Pluto’s gate. So Her- 
acles loosed him from his chain, and brought him up to the light 
once more. 

But when he came back his people had forgotten him, and 
Castor and Polydeuces, the sons of the wondrous Swan, had 
invaded his land, and carried off his mother Aithra for a slave, in 
revenge for a grievous wrong. 

So the fair land of Athens was wasted, and another king ruled 
it, and drove out Theseus shamefully, and he fled across the sea 
to Scuros. And there he lived in sadness, in the house of Luco- 
medes the king, till Lucomedes killed him by treachery, and there 
was an end of all his labours. 

So it is still, my children, and so it will be to the end. In 
those old Greeks, and in us also, all strength and virtue come 
from God. But if men grow proud and self-willed, and misuse 
God’s fair gifts, He lets them go their own ways, and fall pitifully, 
that the glory may be His alone. God help us all, and give us 

185 


THE HEROES 


wisdom, and courage to do noble deeds! but God keep pride 
from us when we have done them, lest we fall, and come to 
shame ! 



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